Chapter 322: Cat

Everything happened within fifteen seconds. It was so fast and shocking that Goetia couldn't even properly react until now. The combined attack of everyone stunned him.

More than that, their UR-rated items and abilities restricted him.

[Gungir] anchored itself to Goetia's form.

[Longinus] inflicted anti-divinity properties that Goetia has.

[Tyrant Eye] enveloped him in the form of chains.

[Void Archive] inflicted 'destructive' laws to his current form.

Even if he remains immortal in the temple, these UR-rated rewards could counteract it. Of course, they ought to solve the problem at its root.

At this moment, the Demon God Pillars continuously reappeared despite the damage inflicted to them. It's as if they were fighting against players with unlimited respawns.

"This brings back memories." Shiro muttered.

"The fox, right? Didn't you obliterate it in the end?"

Touka recalled the fox, Kyuubei, back in that mission world. It was someone with 'unlimited respawns' hence she remembered it immediately.

Bang-!

Boom-!

As the sounds of battlefield continued, Goetia finally composed himself.

"How did you do this?"

"Dozens of all-nighters and lolipops."

"You..!"

Goetia felt as if Romani is ridiculing him, but in fact, that was how everything led to this situation.

A black-orange cube appeared on top of Romani's palm. When he grasped it again, it turned into the form of [Black Abyss]. Then, he stabbed it directly at his chest, increasing the stabbed spears to three.

Instantly, the law of 'destruction' emulated from the original [God Key] started corroding Goetia. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to fully counteract the [Temple of Time].

Lelouch: "Hajin-san, Seol-san needs more support."

Hajin: "Copy that."

Lelouch: "Kouzuki-san's output is enough for now. However, she will need more support soon. The same goes for Kuroneko-san."

Lelouch: "Based on my visions, they will converge on the two while suddenly leaving the rest behind. They will try and take out the two armies first."

Surprisingly, Lelouch's UR-rated item is none other than [Clairvoyance], the same thing Romani used to have until he became human. Although, he could only use it for short-term vision, unlike the [Grand Casters] who could easily peek time itself. Nevertheless, it is an important weapon in the hands of Lelouch as a strategist.

"Shiro-san..?"

"Hey there."

The next one who recovered from their shock is none other than Ritsuka.

"What is..?"

"As you can see... We are trying to settle Romani's family problem."

"Romani-san..?"

This time, it was Mash's bewildered voice.

"Family problem..?"

"That's right." Shiro replied to her query. "You must keep this a secret."

The two nodded at his words.

"Romani is actually Solomon. The very same Solomon who ruled over Israel."

""Huh..?!""

As if telling them mundane secrets, he proceeded to continue:

"That guy..." He pointed at Goetia. "...is a lifeform left by him to guard humanity. He's kind of similar to a counterguardian."

"Counter guardian..?"

Ritsuka was unfamiliar with those words. After all, he never experienced the 'enforcement' of Alaya and Gaia.

"Nevermind that one. You'll know it later on. Anyways, something went wrong and Goetia turned against humanity instead."

""...""

Both Ritsuka and Mash were speechless. They didn't expect they'll be hearing about the main reason why singularities happened.

"As for the rest, Romani explained it already. You know, turning the human timeline unstable by changing the past events, thus destroying humanity itself."

While they were comprehending this, Shiro looked at Kal'tsit who became preoccupied with something.

"Have you done it?"

"Soon."

In her mind, [Great Sage] began its processes.

{Error analyzing the target. Solution: Evolution to a higher skill.}

{Attempting evolution... Failed.}

{Searching stabilizing factors... Found.}

{Recommended action: Initiate Harvest Festival.}

{Embryonic Demon Lord Seed found.}

{No usable souls found. Searching for alternatives...}

{Matching...}

{Eligible substitutes to cognitive souls found. Solution: Unnamed energy.}

From [Great Sage]'s words, Harvest Festival is simply the germination of a [Demon Lord Seed]. During one of the missions, Kal'tsit acquired it as she was connected to [The Voice of the World] through [Great Sage]. It is one of the reasons why it was rated as UR despite being only a [Unique Skill]; it offered a possibility go beyond their limits.

Kal'tsit saw Shiro's smile and understood everything. Turns out, he saw this coming. He heard about the [Demon Lord Seed] from her a while back. Only, she couldn't fully germinate it as that requires ten thousand souls. She wouldn't deliberately cause a massacre just to acquire it. Despite her longevity, she kept a moral baseline.

"I see."

Immediately, she prompted [Great Sage] to begin the harvest festival.

{Commencing...}

{Connection failed.}

{Retrying...}

Romani noticed the situation.

"Is it time?"

"Yeah. After Kal'tsit gets her power up, we could dismantle your old house for good."

"Alright."

Much to Goetia's surprise, the [Black Abyss] disappeared. When Romani summoned [Void Archive] once more, it glowed with dazzling light. It immediately turned into a set of nine rings worn by Romani.

Although Romani couldn't erase the temple with the 'fake' rings, he could access Goetia's Noble Phantasm. Soon, a connection was formed between her and the ring of light, [Ars Almadel Salomonis].

"WHAT?!"

This event halted Goetia's attempt to 'escape'. The mere fact that someone could establish a connection with his [Noble Phantasm] is utterly baffling.

{Commencement successful. Initiating harvest festival.}

It wasn't before long that Kal'tsit became enveloped by a cocoon of light.

"Hm... This won't work. I'll step in a bit."

Shiro, who is simply a spectator, briefly joined. He utilized [Mysteries] to create a separate space-time for Kal'tsit. With that, it will only take a few seconds before the ceremony finishes. She was enveloped by gray fog that covered the surroundings.

Tap.

He tapped his feet lightly, causing dozens of sword strikes to appear on each [Demon God Pillar]. Although it couldn't prevent them from resurrecting, their time interval to respawn became slightly longer.

Seeing this, Goetia fell silent once more. Shiro looked at him with great interest.

"You can see it, don't you?"

"..."

Through [Clairvoyance], Goetia was able to see the outcome. After Kal'tsit came out of the cocoon, it only took her newly-evolved Ultimate Skill [Wisdom King: Raphael] to find the core components of the temple. With Shiro's help, it broke down, thus ending their so-called immortality.

It led to Goetia's inevitable defeat.

"Can we talk?" Romani spoke. "I want to know why you did everything."

"...Humanity is doomed to perish. I did what I could do."

"Perish? Is it the Alien God?"

"How did you—?!"

"I can tell you later."

Right at this moment, the cocoon broke into half, revealing a naked Kal'tsit inside. When she opened her eyes, she saw the gray fog around her area.

"You predicted this." She said with the exact same straight tone as before.

"Having a time-related skill is really helpful."

After that, the two fell into silence.

"Why won't you dress up?" Shiro asked. "I expected to receive some death glares, you know?"

"Why are you looking, then?"

"Because I expected you to wear something?"

"Oh."

Feeling something unusual from her, Shiro poked her a bit more.

"Where's the previous Kal'tsit? The one that always hides her red ears behind her hair?"

"I'm not. To prove it..."

Shockingly, she walked out of it without wearing anything and hung her arms to his neck. She possessed a certain fragrance that is specific to spirit lifeforms.

"Ah..."

Shiro realized that [Harvest Festival] could momentarily cause personality changes. After all...

'She's definitely not the same as before.'