Chapter 189: Artifact Spirit

[Angra Mainyu] is very similar to Madoka's existence—a concept, so as to speak.

It is not a physical nor spiritual entity, but simply a concept of the world itself. It is all the evils of the world, and all the evils of the world are it.

This is why Shiro couldn't brute-force through him with his [Heaven's Feel]. It's still doable if someone would just destroy it or shut it down, but to fight against it?

It's nigh-impossible.

Just as how Madoka can exist forever in past, present, and future, [Angra Mainyu] can also do so. Since he's not even in the [Throne of Heroes] but a wish made by the entire humanity in the 3rd War, he's nigh invincible.

Of course, his invincibility is relative. Though, Shiro aims to eat it whole in one go.

Urging his [Fenrir] form, he gained access to his [Devouring] concept once more. His hair became black as his scarlet pupils scanned the surroundings.

"Oh, you don't."

One by one, he saw muddy figures made out of those that he killed. They are the ones that he could clearly remember in his memories, so it could only mean that it used some sort of [Cause-Effect] concept against him.

"Those that I killed... would always remain dead."

Spitting out that line as a joke, he started barraging them with the hell flames and the sword-shaped flames. Since they all have the attribute of [Anti-Evil], it's simply like cutting a butter with a hot knife.

'Now.'

Suddenly, he urged his full power. He first materialized his [Reality Marble] and made it more solid with [Heaven's Feel], bringing alone the [Greater Grail] and the [Lesser Grail] with him. A black hole can be seen on the former as it sucked the magical energy from the latter.

Then, everything went dark. The shadows that had devoured everything is now aiming its fangs at another worthy foe.

Surprisingly, [Angra Mainyu] can fight back against it. Some bits are being eaten by it, but it can push his [Devouring] concept back. Still, this fed Shiro some kind of feedback, making him feel slightly full.

Red lines appeared from his neck, but it disappeared a second later.

'Barely manageable. I should catch him off guard.' He thought as he calmly activated the enhancement from this throne room as well as his [Critical Strike] ability.

[Eternal Sovereign's Throne—15-fold increase]!

[Critical Strike] x5!

Surprisingly, Shiro found out that he could superimpose that ability up to five times, increasing the "attack power" of his [Devouring] concept by 75 times!

A second later, he felt a huge amount of "dark" power being fed back to him. Though, it didn't affect him as it could even devour a part of [The Root] for himself!

Just as he sensed the surprise in it, he was drowned by a sea of black sea. It didn't touch him due to his [Infinity], but it pulled him into an illusion.

Soon, his dark surroundings changed to that of a bright one. The salty scent of the sea greeted his nose, but he was greeted by something he didn't expect.

It is still daytime, but shadows covered the sunlight all of a sudden. He saw the staffs running in a panic as well as the bewildered face of some KANSENs.

"This is... Am I dead at this point?"

The last thing that Shiro could remember is the day of his death, with him switching places with Dr Anzeel for humanity to have a better fighting chance against them. Furthermore, he could remember more of his memories, so he can deduce what is currently happening.

A frown appeared on his beautiful face as he saw how badly disadvantaged are humans. Then...

"This..! Shit!"

BOOM-!

All of a sudden, the naval base exploded. It brought down thousands of humans with it as well as dozens of KANSENS. While the explosion is strong enough to take down 5 Leviathans, it can only stop at that point.

'What I predicted in the past... It all went true.'

At first, he's considering if this is just a reality made by it, but he can consider it as a possibility. If it is, this is something that he can't bear to see.

"What are you trying to show me..?" Shiro coldly asked to his surroundings. "Go, try this shit on me. I dare you."

He might be slightly pissed, but it won't affect his clear mentality. As someone with max-level Willpower, it is impossible for him to be affected by any external influences.

The surroundings changed once more before turning into an apocalyptic sight. Everything is nothing but destruction, with no signs of human life in the entire planet. However, he could feel the dissipating space-time anchor in a hidden place.

"This is how it ended..." Shiro said sarcastically. "What, you're giving out flashbacks now?"

He got no response, but his surroundings changed once again. This time, he found himself on a mountain. A clear river is flowing downhill, with the chirping of the birds prominent in this area. The sunlight gave him the idea that it is summer right now, though his heart started beating faster inexplicably.

'What...'

Soon, he found someone... floating on top of the river. The boy swiftly floated past through him, but he could see the extreme similarities of the boy from him. Nay, they are almost identical!

Immediately, he brought out his black sword.

[Armament Convergence]!

[Critical Strike] x5!

Crack-!

Zoom-!

The vision was split in half before everything reverted back into the black sea where he was submerged.

'Why...'

Recalling that scene, he could feel something inexplicable in his heart. He thought that being the Commandant is his first life, yet it goes further?

Shaking his head, he decided to focus on devouring this huge clump of evil.

'Why don't you have anything?'

Shiro heard Shirou's voice resound from everywhere.

'Why don't you desire something?' 'He' asked confusedly.

"Why, you say?" He exhaled, controlling the currents of power flowing onto him before replying, "I already had everything, so why do I wish for something that I don't want to have?"

In that moment, the two of them fell into a silence.

Suddenly, a silhouette appeared right besides him. It is not [Angra Mainyu], but something else...

She has a long pair of twintails as well as a heterochromatic pair of eyes—with them being red and golden. However, her current state isn't right as some bright red lines can be found in her arm and neck.

Overall, her current vibe is quite dark, yet it feels natural at the same time.

Realizing that she is an artifact spirit, one from his [Tail Gear], he recalled the flag that he had planted a year ago...

*****

A/N: Greetings, everyone. I'm just here to inform you that updates might be intermittent until Friday due to my finals (which is something that I don't want to screw up). There might be uploads in this span of time, though it's not guaranteed. Rest assured that the stable update will be back once our finals end (Starting in December 17 at latest).

Happy reading~!