"Huff... huff... Viewers, welcome to Fuyuki City Television! Today is February—uwaaah—!"
Breathless and panicked, the voice trembled with urgency.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
A deafening series of explosions shook the area. Viewers watching the Fuyuki City TV broadcast felt the screen jolt upward as if struck, the picture instantly blurred, and the camera visibly trembled.
Soon, the picture stabilized again and refocused.
"This is Fuyuki City Television with a breaking story: Fuyuki City is under a war-level terrorist attack! According to eyewitness reports, a large spatial vortex resembling a wormhole has appeared near the northwest residential district—aliens have landed on Earth!!"
The newscaster—a young woman in a dusty uniform clutching a microphone, face pale with fear—rushed through the announcement in one breath, and before she could say more...
"Run! Monster!!"
"Alien monsters! They're coming!!"
Screams and curses mingled with the sounds of explosions in a chaotic chorus. The noise was so loud that the reporter's voice couldn't be heard clearly, turning the broadcast audio into static-filled distortion.
Suddenly, a giant glowing cyan plasma bolt crackling with electricity dropped from the sky, hitting a street already choked with wrecked, abandoned vehicles.
BOOM—!
Crackling plasma flooded the area. In an instant, smoke billowed upward, fire engulfed everything, and the shockwave left devastation in its wake. Houses toppled, streets scorched to cinders.
The blast was immense. Even the live broadcast image began to fracture. Mud and debris sprayed everywhere, covering the terrified fleeing crowd—including the reporter herself—in grime. No one had time to care.
The heavy broadcast camera was abandoned by the cameraman in his panic, crashing hard to the ground. The footage became increasingly blurry and fragmented.
Though there was no anchor anymore and the angle was poor, viewers could clearly see smoke from the explosion spreading across every visible corner.
Panicked civilians fled past the camera in a frenzy. Moments later, the shattered street was empty, eerily silent save for distant explosions and inhuman screeches growing ever closer.
As the news spread, more people tuned in to Fuyuki City Television, all of them staring wide-eyed at the screen, holding their breath as they watched a modern city collapse into chaos in mere seconds.
CLANG, DRIP~
Dark silhouettes rose into the frame, stomping with such force that the ground cracked audibly. The roaring gusts from their movement pelted the camera with gravel and debris.
The terrifying alien war machines passing through left a profound mark on every viewer's mind.
"ROAR!"
A non-human foot slammed down in front of the lens—two-toed, with tough brown keratin skin covered by deep blue close-fitting armor.
The camera shook violently. Then, the horrific face with four split lips came into full view.
CRACK!
"Report to command: extermination task complete."
Sparks flew from the shattered remains of the camera as a Sangheili Field Master wiped off his claw and gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"
On the other side, along the southern coast of Fuyuki City, Sangheili legion vehicles streaked through the skies: Type-32 'Banshee' rapid-assault craft, Type-48 'Spectre' light assault vehicles, Type-29 'Vampire' air support fighters... and more.
At Fuyuki Port, every docked local coast guard patrol vessel, and even some Self-Defense Force supply ships, had already been destroyed. Towering flames consumed the harbor.
At the same time, a team of Sangheili elite soldiers had dived beneath the sea, heading straight for the undersea communication cables connecting Fuyuki City to global telephone and internet networks.
In the murky ocean depths, twin-bladed Type-1 energy swords lit up with bright blue light. They carved through layers of sediment and coral, exposing the buried undersea fiber-optic cables.
"This is the place."
The lead Sangheili commander held in his hand a crystalline syringe radiating a dense, eerie purple-red glow.
After piercing the armored outer shell and multiple inner layers of the cable, the Sangheili warriors exchanged glances, then simultaneously stabbed their syringes into the cable's fiber conductors and injected the contents.
HUM—!
Instantly, from the injection point, the buried cable began to emit ominous purple-red luminous patterns, rapidly spreading outward along the global internet network and corrupting the surrounding underground leyline environment.
Clearly, this was a virus—an ultimate, self-aware contagion derived from Selene's authority of corruption.
After Selene integrated elements of the Authority of Reason, this virus far surpassed the technological limits of the 2004 timeline of this world. It not only corrupted the leyline network but also possessed terrifying capabilities to infect and control biological organisms, machines, digital signals, and networks.
With modern undersea cables supporting data transmission speeds around 500 Gbps, in almost an instant, residents of Fuyuki and neighboring cities would discover all human communication networks had crashed.
It could be said that once it propagated, the global communication network would collapse. Satellites, signal towers, worldwide internet servers, even private military intranets—none would be safe.
As for the reason? Selene was taking precautions against a possible desperate nuclear retaliation from this timeline's global powers.
After all, this wasn't their homeland. With troops stationed overseas and a past history of "double bombing," what's a few more nukes to them?
With this concern in mind, Selene opted to clear the board first.
She wasn't about to be enjoying hot pot and karaoke mid-battle with Chaldea only to suddenly eat a face full of nukes.
And she had no doubt that the folks across the Pacific were perfectly capable of doing it.
If not for being nerfed due to her Spirit Origin and Servant status, Selene wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. Her true body could have taken control of the planet's digital infrastructure with a mere thought.
...
Chaldea, Central Command Room.
"Thirteen Servants responded immediately to the summoning? That's unbelievable."
Looking at the screen filled with Servant data, Romani Archaman finally let out a relieved smile, leaning back into his chair.
"Thirteen in total: Saber - Siegfried, Mordred; Archer - Atalanta, Chiron; Lancer - Karna, Vlad III; Rider - Achilles, Astolfo; Caster - William Shakespeare, Avicebron; Berserker - Spartacus, Frankenstein; Assassin - Semiramis...."
Arms crossed and finger tapping her chin, even Da Vinci couldn't hide the surprise on her finely-crafted, elegant face.
Normally, when Chaldea tried to summon Servants to support Fujimaru Ritsuka, it was a scramble—slow, chaotic, and inefficient. But this time, not only was the number of summoned Servants astonishingly high, their quality was also incredible.
"A dragonslayer, a rebellious knight, legendary heroes, a son of the sun god... every one of them is a powerhouse."
"But why do they almost perfectly match the lineup Ruler Jeanne described from the Holy Grail War in Romania... and why is there only one Assassin?"
Da Vinci frowned in deep thought.
"Spirit Origin resonance...."
Romani murmured.
"That foreign god once appeared in the Romanian Holy Grail War under the Rider class. Now, her second descent is via the Avenger-based Beast II template of Tiamat, summoned by Lev... there must be a connection."
Originally, when Gilgamesh and Ishtar successfully descended, Romani had thought the summoned allies would include Merlin, Ana, Ushiwakamaru, Leonidas I, Musashibou Benkei, or Quetzalcoatl—all recent battle companions.
But judging by the lineup, Chaldea's Servant summoning system [Fate] was instead focusing directly on Selene.... Still, that was acceptable. As long as the [Fate] system remained operational, Romani could continue preparing more reinforcements.
BOOM—!
Just as Chaldea began to relax and formulate strategies for facing Selene, who possessed the fused Spirit Origins of Avenger Gorgon and Beast II Tiamat, Gilgamesh was in no mood to celebrate.
"You foul-mouthed mongrel, I'm going to rip your face off!!"
Even with all these reinforcements at his disposal—enough to encircle and overwhelm her—the pride of a king refused to allow Gilgamesh to stoop to such tactics.
It wasn't just principle. That woman had the audacity to charge headlong into enemy territory on her own, and what? He was going to cower? That wounded his pride more than anything.
Even if he himself disapproved of his earlier Archer self, he was still Gilgamesh!
Golden ripples shimmered—shua shua!
Explosions rocked the building, the violent shockwaves almost ripping the roof away as thick smoke filled the room.
CLANG CLANG!
As red-gold patterned spears danced, they deflected incoming Noble Phantasms.Senti snorted disdainfully.
"Heh. As they say in Shenzhou, 'a son doesn't resent his ugly mother, and a dog doesn't hate its poor home.' So what's your excuse, Goldie? Tch tch."
Unaware that Archer Gilgamesh had transformed into the Wise King version, Senti continued to mock him for his infamous Holy Church incident.
Back then, after sensing the divine aura on Senti and Fu Hua, Archer Gilgamesh immediately began to mouth off, hurling contempt and insults. Senti, in turn, picked up on his own divine nature.
That version of Gilgamesh loathed the gods—those who killed his friend Enkidu, unleashed the Bull of Heaven, and generally made his life hell. His hatred for divinity ran so deep that his divine stat dropped from A+ to B.
But no matter what, Gilgamesh remained two-thirds god and one-third man. It was a part of his lineage he could never change.
Naturally, Senti wouldn't let go of such a sore spot.
"You're the real mongrel here. Hating your own bloodline? How do you even have the face to live in this world?"
Casually leaning on her spear, one hand on her hip, Senti stared down at everyone present with the same kind of pitying, condescending sneer that Gilgamesh himself so often wore.
"Honestly, I pity your parents, you mutt. They did nothing wrong, yet gave birth to an ungrateful wretch like you."
Gilgamesh's face froze.
In the next instant, veins began bulging across his forehead, his once flawless and handsome face gradually twisting with fury.
At that moment, even as the Wise King, with all his composure and restraint, his inner rage surged violently.
"Woman... say. that. again."
Gilgamesh spat the words one by one. Magic surged around him as golden armor materialized over his body. His voice was colder than ever.
"Your disrespect is enough to warrant your death a thousand times over. You bastard standing there—I will tear you to pieces!"
"Gilgamesh, calm down."
Seeing the Archer, an AOE specialist, about to draw his sword and charge at a woman who was clearly a Berserker, Fujimaru Ritsuka, protected behind Mash, hurriedly stepped in to stop him.
"Hehe..."
Just as Gilgamesh looked like he was about to explode, the culprit tilted her head and gave an infuriating, smug smile.
"Oh? Are you mad? Aw, poor baby. Too bad this immortal won't fight you! Hahaha... I just love watching you rage and do nothing about it."
With that, Senti turned to glance toward Mount Enzou, then suddenly leapt back, laughing maniacally at the sky.
"Goldie~ Don't you dare die too quickly."
As her words fell, all the Servants, including Gilgamesh, instantly shifted to stand in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka, their expressions changed.
BOOOOOM—!
As if responding to her words, a deafening explosion erupted. At Fuyuki City's eastern peak, Mount Enzou exploded violently. Earth and rock shot into the sky like a dragon overturning.
Ziiiip!
The binding barrier was torn apart. The gorgeous crystalline spread from the blast painted the sky blood-red, dyed in the hue of 'Honkai.'
Amidst the calamity, there was no time to sit and watch anymore. The newly summoned Servants leapt into action. Streams of magical energy howled through the air, breaking apart massive falling boulders like meteors and shielding the entire zone.
As an even larger divine shadow slowly rose in the distance, Chaldea, which had only just begun to regain its footing, plunged back into chaos.
"As expected... she's transforming, absorbing the mana of this era to strengthen herself."
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