Chapter 105. Kyogoku Makoto: I'm just an ordinary martial artist and what I have, is only the courage to swing my fist at the summit.
[At the battlefield where two figures clash, atop the peak of a skyscraper.]
["Looks like this time there's no way we're making it back alive…"]
[A man in a brown cloak lights a cigarette, taking a deep, troubled drag.]
[He's the eighth among the seven Directors of the Onmyo Bureau, but even so, he has no confidence in victory. (Note: ???)]
["What's wrong…?"]
[Kyougoku Makoto quietly steps forward, standing beside him, looking toward the two Servants like natural disasters — as if gods had descended to ravage the earth — and calmly says:]
["Scared?"]
["Yeah, scared."]
[The man exhales a puff of smoke: "But isn't there no retreat now? Anyway… this is my homeland…"]
[He clenches his teeth, throws the cigarette forcefully away, pulls out a greatsword, his face ferocious, and charges straight ahead.]
["Bastard!!"]
[A raging wind explodes, and he streaks forward like a beam of light toward the king devastating the earth.]
[That's right…]
[This is the homeland…]
[Kyougoku Makoto looks at the land burning like molten lava, the battered and scarred city, and his body ignites with energy.]
["All units, prepare!"]
["Let's join forces and drive these 'gods' out of our homeland!"]
["Roger!!"]
[From all across the city, angry roars resound.]
["Connect the leyline…"]
["Connection complete!"]
["Magic formation ready…"]
["Formation ready!"]
["Shall we activate?"]
["Activate!"]
["3."]
["2."]
["1."]
[The city shakes violently, gales rise from all directions, dark beams shoot straight into the sky, forming a magic array that covers half the city.]
[It's here.]
...
Reality.
A breathtaking sight.
"Magic formations are scary, just like the Divine Temple Medea built."
"The coverage range is massive…"
"Jeez… with this much manpower, resources, and magical materials, they must've bled for it!"
"Onmyou Bureau really is no joke, truly the orthodox institution that's lasted hundreds of years."
"Any magus who can make it here, even if just a grunt, is an elite nationwide, all geniuses."
"Yeah, I heard the seven top Directors of Onmyou Bureau can go one-on-one with a Servant."
Many people whisper excitedly, thrilled.
Compared to the dazzling Heroic Spirits of history, adorned with countless legendary feats, the crowd feels more sympathy toward the people of today.
The magi banding together, fighting like an army, stirs their blood even more, making them want to rush to the front lines.
Of course…
These genius magi have nothing to do with ordinary people.
However… in the very next moment.
Everyone falls silent, gazing up at the sky in a daze.
A suffocating feeling, as if something just exploded inside their chest.
Motherfucker, is this even possible?!
——
[BOOM!]
[Thunder roars, the brutal king turns into a black beam piercing through the sky.]
[In the very next second, the magic array, relying on the city's grand leyline, shatters with a "BOOM," countless barriers gathered like massive shields break apart like glass, leyline energy and magic scattering across the ground.]
[It doesn't even stir up a ripple, fails to attract even a flicker of attention.]
["ROAR!!"]
[Another massive figure follows right behind, roaring as it tears through the clouds and sky, pursuing.]
[The giant axe in its hand sweeps horizontally, and just the shockwave alone smashes the foundations of the magic formations.]
[One red, one black, two beams intertwine endlessly like thunder and lightning in the blood-soaked sky, treating the layered defenses of Higashi-Yamato City like children's toys.]
[Are you kidding me?!]
[Even the President of the Onmyou Bureau stood frozen, deathly silent as he stared at the scene before him.]
[He hadn't expected to suppress the legendary King Arthur, but… to not even slow her down for a moment?]
[This was… a desperate gap like an unbridgeable canyon!!]
[An unfathomable abyss that could never be crossed —!!]
[Everyone else was the same, faces drastically pale, bodies trembling. As the highest echelon among magi across all Japan, even among the top ranks of the world, this was the first time they had truly felt something called despair.]
["What are you all standing there for?!"]
[The President roared furiously, glancing around at the magi rendered speechless in shock.]
["If the plan fails, then use our flesh and blood to stop the Servant's destruction!"]
[Contrary to what several key figures in the Onmyou Bureau had predicted, that King Arthur had never once laid eyes on them — she hadn't even looked at the giant formation once. All that swelled in her heart was killing intent, and her sole target — was Heracles the Berserker.]
[The city?]
[Lives?]
[Magus?]
[They had never entered her vision — in the eyes of the strong, there was no place for the weak.]
[Even the aftershocks from her battle with Heracles had uprooted the very foundations of countless grand formations beneath the ground, as easily as rotted stakes pulled out from the earth.]
[Countless magi strained themselves to the limit, using enhancement spells on their vision, but they still couldn't clearly see the movements of those two figures.]
[It was like ordinary people trying to track the flight path of a supersonic jet — utterly laughable.]
[Only eight people there could barely keep up!]
["No good, they're too fast, we can't follow at all!"]
[One of the seven Directors, Nura Rikuo, roared in fury.]
[Even after activating "Oni Fusion" to merge with his Shikigami, he still couldn't keep up with the speed of the two Servants battling in the sky.]
["Motherfucker, this is the first time in my life I've ever felt like a damned buzzing fly!"]
[The heavy-cloaked man carrying the greatsword cursed loudly, his hair shedding strand by strand.]
[I'm bald now, and still no stronger!]
["Everyone together!!" Isayama Yomi shouted.]
[A command rang out.]
[At that instant, eight beams of light surged into the battlefield of the gods!]
[At that very moment, Black Saber landed atop a skyscraper, quietly standing there, coldly gazing down at the rampaging Heracles charging toward her.]
[The man carrying the greatsword led the charge, using Reinforcement Magecraft on his body, transforming into a giant ten stories tall, roaring as he swung the massive greatsword from his shoulder, slashing through layers of space!]
["It's you, right? Ancient hero, present-day calamity — then let's see, you and me, the one called the hero of this era…"]
...
Reality — the spectators were boiling with excitement.
It's not only Servants who are mighty.
Humans can——
Ah.
This…
...
[As if utterly fed up with the buzzing fly, the tyrannical Black King casually waved her hand.]
["BOOM BOOM BOOM…!"]
[It wasn't a light cannon, nor a Mana Burst.]
[It was simply the pressure from an overwhelmingly powerful force.]
[One of the seven Directors, charging forward in his giant form, was directly blown away — his upper body melted away as if evaporated.]
[An indescribable shock surged through the hearts of the remaining people.]
[Without hesitation, all seven of them unleashed their ultimate skills, blood spilling from their mouths and noses, forcing themselves upright by burning their very life force. But Black Saber paid them no mind — she simply lifted her hand lightly and fired a light cannon that almost turned them to a bloody mist.]
[BOOM!]
[The pillar of light pierced the heavens, ignoring the tiny ants caught in its wake, and blasted straight at the Berserker chasing behind, incidentally leveling an entire row of skyscrapers.]
...
The Hell?!
The entire Onmyou Bureau was stunned silent, and the crowd watching outside was left slack-jawed.
Everyone was thrown into chaos, overwhelmed by the sheer disparity.
"How the hell did Raku Sou even fight a Servant?!"
"Yukino at least has her future Heroic Spirit self buffing her, but Raku Sou… that guy's just pure hack!"
"This is bullshit — an ancient magic association with centuries of legacy can't even compare to a minor magus clan head from Fuyuki?!"
"Maybe it's because Black Saber is just too strong, far beyond ordinary Servants."
"Haah… this scene is truly tragic…"
"I at least thought they'd manage to stall them a bit or maybe injure Saber or Berserker somehow."
"Too bad — between humans and gods, there's an absolute difference, no matter how much mortals struggle, it's all meaningless."
…
[Under a teleportation spell that consumed nearly half the national treasury, seven people awoke amidst confusion.]
[How could there be such an overwhelming difference?]
[Even after burning their life force, they could still stand directly against the Burial Agency, couldn't they?!]
[Hadn't you people of the Burial Agency once claimed they could fight head-on against a Servant?!]
[In the distance, a member of the Holy Church quietly pulled their hat brim lower.]
[Cough cough… do you understand what the art of words is…]
[We are a religious organization, how could we go around saying we're weak?!]
["Teleport away…"]
[Someone spoke in a dry, cracked voice.]
[The gap between enemy and us was too vast, despair beyond description.]
[Don't even talk about defeating — they couldn't even cause a little hindrance.]
[Going out there was nothing but throwing away lives.]
["Teleport? Now how many people can still be teleported? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?"]
["Forty million people… teleport how, no, maybe only thirty million left now."]
[How long had it even been?]
[Someone suddenly let out a hoarse scream, collapsing to the ground, face buried in their hands, sobbing silently.]
["But it's all meaningless… We already gave it our all, poured out four hundred years of accumulation, yet facing a Servant we're still pitifully tiny."]
["Let's go, mobilize everyone, save however many we can."]
[The President's eyes were bloodshot, gazing up at the sky where waves of meteorites rained down, trailing long fiery tails, crashing into the city, destroying building after building.]
[The scene was like something out of a mythological epic — the aftermath of when the Demigod Heracles tore the earth apart, hurling entire layers of the crust to fling at the enemy — but shattered midair.]
[But it was only the aftermath, and to the ordinary people in the city, it was an extinction-level disaster.]
[How many people died each passing moment?]
[Ten thousand?]
[Or a hundred thousand?]
[Suddenly—]
[A tall figure casually stuffed mana stones into his mouth, crunching loudly.]
["Finished talking? Then I'm heading out."]
[Without sparing a glance at his comrades whose spirits had just been crushed, Kyogoku Makoto strode out of the grand hall.]
["It's meaningless."]
[Someone glanced at him, speaking hoarsely.]
["The gap is too big."]
["That is the storm that is approaching, the Gods walking upon the earth."]
["Maybe so….."]
[Kyogoku Makoto stopped, revealing a hearty grin.]
["But I'm just an ordinary martial artist — and what I have, is only the courage to swing my fist at the summit."]
[Looking up at the sky, Kyogoku Makoto recalled long ago.]
[Wasn't his master, to him, once as strong as a god?]
[The martial art he practiced was called Bājíquán.]
[A branch of Chinese martial arts.]
[It represented the ultimate level, aiming for unity with the universe.]
[Its vastness, its profundity, truly unimaginable, utterly incomprehensible…]
[And he himself, as one of the "Seven Directors," fundamentally could not even be considered as having mastered it.]
[But his master, that old man with the sunglasses, was the one who had stepped into the realm of the gods relying on that martial art.]
[Even if only to avoid disgracing the master known as "The One with the Strongest Fist"…]
[That tall figure, resolutely stepped up toward the sky.]
[Moments later, the violent battle aura exploded midair, like a meteor flashing bright before vanishing in an instant — yet the very next second, it reappeared…]
[In the grand hall, everyone watched that solitary silhouette, again and again launching charges at the king standing amidst the heavens, only to fall back down.]
[The remaining Directors were silent, deeply stirred, their hearts torn.]
[They sighed, then also stepped outside.]
["Haizz, I must be crazy… following that kind of hot-blooded idiocy, struggling in vain like this…"]