C477

"What?" His eyebrow shot up.

He was aware that time flowed differently across various worlds. Over fifteen hundred years ago, Zelretch had been transformed into a Dead Apostle. This transformation caused the Second Magic to go haywire, creating a link between this world and Miyu's parallel world. Coincidentally, at that exact moment, the Greek gods in that parallel world had just created Pandora.

This piece of information had been previously confirmed through what Astraea had said. Of course, it didn't necessarily mean that time in both worlds was flowing at different rates; it could also be a matter of temporal interference, similar to what he experienced when crossing the "Root."

But what was undeniable was that due to the Second Magic going awry, a point of connection between these two worlds had been established over fifteen hundred years ago!

The energy cannons blasted toward the nightmarish monster, but the Black Cup it held unleashed a black light that nullified every magical torrent and cannon attack that came its way, as if dissolving them into spiritual particles.

Shirou was less concerned with these immediate attacks; he had a more pressing question. Amidst the chaos, he turned to Pandora and asked, "So you're saying that this Grail actually originates from this world?"

She gave a faint nod, "Zeus once visited your world... and that Grail is what he took back with him."

"Why did he take the Grail? And who did he take it from?"

"I can't say for sure. I came into being later... All I know is that Zeus placed the Grail in the box and then introduced me to gods from various other pantheons. He persuaded them to put their divine aspects and powers into the box. He often mentioned one specific thing..."

"And what was that?"

"To create a pantheon of all gods..."

Just as she finished speaking, a noticeable shift occurred around the humanoid mass. The Black Cup's light intensified, and even the Time Temple seemed to tremble for a moment.

His attention turned to King Solomon.

Solomon spoke calmly, "A fragment of the Lord's power resides in the Cup. However, its nature... is no longer of the Lord's."

King Solomon's confirmation carried great weight. He had been granted the divine gift of wisdom from the Lord, the very foundation that led him to become the King of Magecraft. Without question, his words served as irrefutable evidence, demonstrating that what Pandora had said was not false and that they were dealing with the Lord's Holy Grail.

However, that Grail had been taken by Zeus more than fifteen hundred years ago and placed into Pandora's Box.

It all started to make sense. No wonder Paul and the Holy Church had been on a fruitless search for the Grail for over a millennium and a half. How could they possibly find it? The Grail had long been taken away by a god from a completely different world!

Shirou took a quick look at the Black Cup held by the humanoid mass. Suddenly, he understood why Enlightened One had left.

Apart from the connection with him having reached its end, there was another factor at play: the involvement of another Supreme Being in this scenario meant the Enlightened One had to step away.

The saving grace was that this incident wasn't orchestrated by a Supreme Being. Instead, it was Zeus from another world who had come here to take the Grail, creating this abomination.

Had this been the work of the Lord, King Solomon might have betrayed them from the very start.

However, that Grail had been taken by Zeus and placed into Pandora's Box. It was then filled with the malice of various gods, causing the original power of the Lord within the Grail to dissipate. The Grail transformed into a vessel carrying the evil of these gods. This could very well be its true nature.

Originally, the Grail was an instrument of the Lord, and as such, was of the same caliber as the Enlightened One—an object capable of accessing the ultimate truths of the world. When this foundational element combined with the aspects and authority of gods from parallel world, it was sufficient to create this abomination.

A barrage of artillery fire pummeled the bizarre humanoid mass, but it seemed unfazed. It took the Black Cup and lodged it into its own chest, then grabbed the mind-controlled old man and shoved him in there too.

Inky strands of black mud, resembling tentacles, coiled around the old man's body. 

Considering the old man's strange devotion to magical girls and the fact that tentacles were widely known as their natural enemies, one might argue that this was, in a peculiar way, his ultimate destiny.

"Damn it! To think they're using me to extract magical energy... Do they see me as some kind of battery?" the old man yelled, his face twisted in anger.

Once the Black Cup was secured in the chest of the humanoid mass, the tainted Grail notably amplified its divine authority. Then, black lightning enveloped the creature.

Zla, zla!

The black lightning itself, even without the Black Cup's help, was strong enough to break apart some of the magical cannon blasts.

Shirou turned to Pandora and questioned, "So where's Zeus, the one responsible for creating this monstrosity?"

She responded, "He has long since returned to his own realm."

"Why are you willing to share this information with us?" He probed further.

"I was created by Zeus as a vessel and as the keeper of the box. However, my loyalty doesn't necessarily lie with him," she clarified.

"Vessel... vessel...!!!"

After absorbing the Black Cup and using the old man as a sort of human battery, the creature underwent a change. The mud faces that formed on its body seemed more animated, and the voices emanating from it grew significantly louder.

The whole Time Temple was abuzz, as if filled with the sound of millions of flies.

"It's gone berserk, and I can no longer restrain it. It's going to break out, summon its true form, and ultimately create a pantheon. This was a program Zeus set up before he left."

With those final words, she lifted her dress, preparing to exit the scene.

She had already been drained of her evil, and even though she remained a vessel, there was no longer a role for her in Zeus's script. Her usefulness had run its course.

Just then, the monstrous humanoid form descended from the sky.

Bolstered by multiple layers of divine authority and supercharged by the Black Cup, its overwhelming power started causing all sorts of anomalies throughout the Time Temple.

The sky in the distance seemed to ripple like ocean waves. The dome of the southeast sub-temple formed an arc. Even the virtual spacetime of the Time Temple, with its unique flow of time and space, started to splinter.

"It's the power of the Lord," Solomon remarked.

It made sense. Although the Holy Grail had been tainted, it was still an artifact connected to the Lord, far from being ordinary.

The Black Cup inside the monstrous humanoid wasn't some imitation made by the Holy Grail War; it was an authentic artifact!

Even though the Grail had been corrupted by the evil of gods from another world, its immense power remained intact. That was the power of the Lord, on par with the Enlightened One. It was more than capable of boosting divine authority.

"Vessel... vessel..."

The humanoid abomination let out a howl. Its evil purpose was now blatantly evident, without any disguise.

Artillery fire continued to rain down.

Gilgamesh tightened his brow and unleashed the Chains of Heaven.

Whoosh, Shoosh!

The Chains of Heaven snaked toward the humanoid mass, resembling a long serpent. However, the relentless black lightning that enveloped the creature smashed the chains. Fortunately, it seemed that the monstrous creature hadn't yet fully adapted to the power boost from the Black Cup, allowing the Chains of Heaven to find a gap, stretch in, and successfully restrain the creature.

Rumble, rumble!

The humanoid mass, fused from elements of seventeen different gods and further empowered by the Black Cup, emitted a force so intense that it made the very sky tremble. Fortunately, the divinity fusion from the seventeen gods had enhanced the Chains of Heaven to their utmost limit, making them difficult to break.

But…

"Damn it...!"

The old man, who had been lodged into the chest of the creature and was being used as a magical battery, couldn't contain his irritation and cursed loudly.