The center of the imperial capital was where the prosperity of the empire was supposedly most visible.
However, many of the buildings had been leveled due to the numerous exchanges between me and Gemini.
Those who shouldnāt have woken up had been roused from their slumber.
I could feel them everywhere; the similar pressure I felt when I first encountered the machine angel Haniel. But back then it was still in its juvenile stage. Forced to go into an incomplete adult state.
But this time itās different. The magic signatures felt more completed. Making me unsure of what to do.
Gemini being there didnāt make it any easier either.
It seemed that the imperial capital defense system had just started.
[Thatāsā¦]
When I looked up, the sky was seemingly covered by a diaphanous blue sheet. It grew from the ground up, seeking to entrap the entire capital in a dome-shaped cage.
It opened at much higher alt.i.tude than all the buildings in the capital, so all we could do was watch it unfold.
Meanwhile, Geminiās onslaught didnāt stop, showing no signs of stopping whatsoever.
Both me and Eris were back to back.
[Shouldnāt the defense system have been activated when we first entered the area?]
[I do not know. Someone might have deliberately delayed the activation until now.]
[Could it beā¦ Dad]
It shouldnāt be Gemini. Otherwise the system wouldāve been activated sooner.
But why keep us here? The blue shroud would soon completely cover the sky.
When it did, the blue glow shimmered brighter. And right then, I felt my body become heavier.
My strength was slipping awayā¦ This feelingā¦somehow similar to that.
Like when I offered my stats to fuel the sin weapon technique.
[Status drop!?]
[The shroud seems to have a significant debuffing effect on the intruders.]
Erisā words were spot on. We were the intruders though.
If it can identify us and apply a certain effect to us accurately, then I donāt want to imagine what it can do to allied individuals.
[The spatial leap is going faster!]
[The overall abilities seems to have been improved. That blue glow must be empowering it.]
To think that weād have our backs pushed to the wall like thisā¦
Barely any opening. And Eris was already at her limit.
Iām sure Eris couldnāt use her magic eyes for a while. Her right eye was still closed, and blood was still flowing profusely from the opening.
[Are you sureā¦ you can still go on?]
[Yes. No problem. No need to worry about me.]
[But youā¦]
[No need to be concerned about me. Nothing else you can do about it. Instead, focus more on what is ahead of us.]
Erisā argument was sound. If we stayed under this light, even if somehow we found an opening, my stats may not be enough to damage Gemini.
Right nowā¦ itās about life and death.
[Alright. Erisā¦ I believe in the real Eris inside you.]
[ā¦let us proceed]
Erisā magic eye saw something.
Itās that Geminiās future was diverging.
Normally, the eye would only perceive one future. But Gemini had two.
The future where my attack hit, and where I missed.
Both were projected at the same time.
When I heard it, I had a hard time believing it. I always thought that thereās only one future. Thatās why one should work hard and think carefully before choosing a path.
But that rule didnāt seem to apply to this sacred beast Gemini. Itās ability allowed it to pick the best possible outcome.
Itās like it could fluctuate the probability of things.
The future where my attacks. .h.i.t seemed to be a lot more unlikely to happen. While the one where it misses was the opposite.
It was vague, but itās as if Gemini could strengthen the future it wanted to happen so that itās more likely to happen.
Itās this ability to fluctuate the future that made my attacks miss.
But even this seemingly perfect ability was not flawless.
Thatās why it is called probability fluctuation.
Itās not always absolute. If it could cause a probability of 100%, Eris wouldnāt be able to see the alternate future at all.
But the probability of the alternate future to actually happenā¦was near zero. At least thatās how it is according to Eris.
But it existed. Because Eris could see it.
All we need to do is to increase its probability.
[As long as itās not zero, we can still fight.]
Machine angels flew in the sky, ready to shoot long range attacks on us. As far as my eyes could see, it would be coming from all directions.
Gemini floated above them. Watching for the opportunity to sneak an attack on us after the angels attacked.
[Eris, stay close to me.]
[Yes. We have only one chance.]
I looked at my black sword and thought inwardly.
Greedā¦ Here I go.
I changed the black sword into its fifth form. This is the power that Greed entrusted to me in exchange for himself.
The magic threads released from the fingers of this gauntlet-like weapon may not seem as dangerous as other forms. However, the battle against sacred beast Aquarius had proven how devastating this weaponās destructive power could be.
Simply speaking, this weapon was capable of wide-area annihilation.
The attack range was too wide, and the steps were too numerous. In addition to that, the destructive power needed to be controlled delicately. I told Eris to stay by my side so that she wouldnāt be caught in the crossfire.
With Myneās help, Iād been trying to improve my mastery over this weapon. I almost gave up many times due to how difficult it was to handle, and how I often nearly killed Myne when I failed to control the weapon. I had to apologize to her a lot because of the repeated mistakes.
But thanks to that, I should be able to wield the weapon in actual combat now. Thereās still the possibility of friendly fire, but itās alright as long as my allies stay behind me.
[Fate-sama, here it comes!]
Roaring loudly at almost the same time, the machine angels launched various kinds of wide-area elemental magic. The sight looked almost like a colorful flower blooming in the sky.
With my arms outstretched to the sky, I began circulating magic power to the black gauntlets.
[Chop them down!!]
Ten black threads were released from the gauntletsā fingers. Each then branched into different directions, increasing in number, multiplying again and again as they spread.
There were only ten threads at the beginning. But in a blink of an eye, the number of threads had gone up to thousands. And itās still increasing.
And I need to control all of themā¦ I have to. As long as I have magic power left, itāll continue to multiplyā¦ Almost like itās a living thing.
The wide area magic released by the machine angels collided with the black threads. The moment the threads came in contact with something, it entangled them like a spiderās thread and returned the magic to nothing.
This black thread was a weapon that specializes in cutting. And never missed the prey it touched.
The black thread proceeded unimpeded to the sky.
The machine angels tried to avoid it, to no avail. Thereās no escaping the black threads.
[Iāll eat all of you!]
The black threads tore them apart. Feet, hands, wings, torsoā¦ neck.
And it didnāt stop there. It kept cutting until thereās not even a sc.r.a.p left of them.
In a moment, the machine angels disappeared into shimmering dust under the light of the pale blue dome.
The inorganic voice echoed in my mind continuously. Informing me of enormous status gain after eating that many machine angels at once.
I felt blood gushing out from my left eye. As expected. Even in such good shapeā¦eating so many machine angels still took a toll on me.
But I can still fight. Thatās what matters most here.
I looked toward Gemini, who retreated higher toward the sky.
Using the enormous amount of stat that I just obtained, I activated the secret technique of the fifth form.
[Greed, my stats! Take it away!]
The black gauntlet grows into a terrifying shape. The force propagates to the black thread and begins to wear a golden aura.
This is itā¦ Greed.
The last thing you taught meā¦ how to execute the fifth formās secret technique.
[Dimension Destruction!]
The glittering black thread cuts through even s.p.a.ce. There was no way for Gemini to leap into s.p.a.ce anymore.
The absolute cutting power converged swiftly upon Gemini.