The battles raged all around the temple as servants quite honestly bullied the demon god pillars.

They fought ferociously while the demon gods could only flail around aimlessly due to the massive numbers advantage.

However things were different in the main temple of time. Y/n, Arcueid, Sakura and Mash all looked up at the white throne. Upon which sat a familiar figure.

Y/n: "Sup, Goetia!? Miss us!?"

Goetia growled at Y/n's apparent confidence.

Goetia: "I'll admit, you got here faster than I anticipated."

Arcueid: "So this is Goetia?"

Sakura: "Yes. That's him."

Y/n: "You may as well give us the villain monologue now, Goetia. I'll even let you explain it to us so I can make it that much more satisfying to kill you."

Goetia chuckled lightly before standing up from the throne.

Goetia: "Very well. If you want to truly know then I suppose I can humour you. But first, a question."

Y/n frowned as Goetia smirked.

Goetia: "Why do you humans continue to suffer? Why do you insist on inflicting pain and fear on one another? You spread nothing but false promises and outright lies. You are all a failed attempt. If humans were truly perfect, you would have no fear of death. The very concept would be foreign! So why do you continue to fight against me when all I aim for is for humanity to forget their fear of death!? To recreate them in a way that would allow them to live forever without the need for suffering!"

Y/n was speechless. Arcueid and Sakura were in a similar state. Goetia then held his arms out.

Goetia: "Surely you see my ideals, Mash Kyrielight."

Y/n looked over at Mash, who seemed conflicted.

Goetia: "Surely you, whose life nears its end, can understand my point of view!"

Mash: "... I do. I see your point."

Goetia: "Then why fight me? Why not join me!? You can live your life to its fullest without the fear of death that plagues all humans!"

Mash: "... That's just it. Because I'm human."

Y/n smiled as Mash spoke plainly to the leader of the demon gods.

Mash: "The fear of death is what motivates us to move forward. If we didn't have that, we wouldn't have so many precious things. Human memory is the most precious thing in the world, and it's made even more so by those we've known, loved and lost. The memory of those who are no longer with us are what helps to shape what we will become."

Y/n chuckled under his breath before speaking.

Y/n: "If all humans were immortal... How long do you think it would be before we all went mad? No matter what, time weighs on a person's mind. Even if you live without seeing death for thousands of years, you would still feel its effects. You'd lose sight of who you were as a child after the first few hundred years and eventually that feeling of forgetfulness would evolve into a plague of madness."

Goetia's smirk faded into a frown as Y/n took a step over to Mash and put his hand on her shoulder.

Arcueid smiled and walked over as well.

Arcueid: "As someone who's got an idea of what it's like to be immortal. It gets lonely. Immortality is nothing but a vacuum of loneliness. So even if you make a good argument, you're fundamentally wrong because you can never understand humans. You think you do, but ultimately you're wrong."

Sakura: "You can never understand what it's like to be human, Goetia. I can't even feel any kind of pity for you..."

Y/n: "Because we don't need to pity him, Sakura. We need to whoop his ass."

Sakura smiled as Y/n smirked at her. Goetia's frown turned to a glare of anger.

Goetia: "I see. Then I shall incinerate you all alongside the rest of human history."

Goetia sat back down upon his throne as black tendrils began to consume him.

Goetia: "Then I shall give you the privilege of seeing my true form before I kill you all."

Y/n and the others got ready to fight as the warped form of Solomon turned into a demon god pillar, which unravelled to reveal Goetia in his true form. A tree-like being with white and gold "skin" and a large orb in the middle of his abdomen.

Y/n: "Damn, you're ugly."

Goetia: "Flauros. Carry this order to all seventy two demon gods. INCINERATE ALL WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!"

Back with the others, Flauros received the message and passed it along to the other demon gods as they began fighting more fiercely than before, even managing to harm some of the servants in the process.

Goetia glared down at the four Chaldeans before him before raising his hand.

Goetia: "If you shall not stand at my side, then I shall eliminate you all here and now! I shall show you the end of your journey! The demise of human history that shall remake this planet! The time of birth hath come! He is the one who masters all! Now, BURN LIKE THE TRASH YOU ARE!!"

Mash stood in front of everyone before slamming her shield down harder than she ever had before.

Mash: "LORD CAMELOT!!!"

Goetia: "ARS ALMADEL SALOMONIS!!!"

The sky lit up a bright pink colour as the ring of light shone to life. All of that energy was concentrated on a single point and fired as a huge beam of light straight at the masters and Mash, who kept her shield up.

When the blast connected with Mash's noble phantasm, Y/n saw her strain and struggle against it.

Y/n: "I'll back you up, Mash!"

Mash: "NO!"

Y/n flinched as Mash looked back at Sakura, Arcueid and he.

Mash: "You've all done so much for me. Y/n, you've always been the one protecting me."

Y/n felt his heart drop as a tear fell from Mash's eye.

Mash: "Let me finally be the one to protect you."

Arcueid: "MASH!!"

Sakura: "Mash, don't do this!"

Mash: "I'm sorry. To all of you. Just let me do this!"

Y/n watched as the light of the Ars Almadel Salomonis consumed his vision. The last thing he saw before being blinded temporarily was Mash looking back at him with a smile on her face.

When his vision returned, all that remained was a solitary shield. Mash had protected them, but it had cost her her life in return.

Sakura: "Mash..."

Arcueid: "Damn you, Goetia!"

Arcueid was on the very verge of bursting into a blood rage over this loss. Y/n stood speechless as Goetia gazed down at them.

Goetia: "A shame. But she fought for a foolish ideology."

Y/n: "... You don't know..."

Goetia looked at Y/n as he walked forward and placed a hand on Mash's shield.

Goetia: "you said something?"

Y/n: "I said you don't know."

Goetia: "Don't know what?"

Y/n lifted his head, revealing crimson tears streaking down his face.

Y/n: "You don't know what the fuck you've just done. You don't know how absolutely fucked you are now."

Goetia found himself feeling genuinely nervous as Y/n looked up at him with furious eyes, reddened by his tears.

However the beast needed rid of them, so he charged in and prepared to fight in a melee until his fist crashed into some kind of invisible wall.

???: "Now now, Goetia. Let's not be so feisty."

Y/n looked back in surprise as Roman walked over.

Goetia: "Romani Archaman."

Y/n: "Roman!"

Roman: "Hello."

Goetia: "Feh, what can a mere doctor do here? You've merely come to meet your end!"

Roman: "... You're right about that, Goetia."

Y/n's head snapped to look at Roman with wide eyes.

Y/n: "Roman, the hell are you talking about?"

Roman: "This is what I have to do to ensure he doesn't return, Y/n."

In a flash of light, Roman changed to his usual form as Solomon.

Goetia: "WHAT!? N- NO! YOU'RE-!?"

Solomon: "Yes. I am Solomon. It's been known to Chaldea for some time now."

Goetia: "No! You cannot, You do not have your rings!"

Solomon: "Indeed. I have only one."

Solomon held up his hand and showed that he only had one ring on his left middle finger. Goetia saw this and chuckled.

Goetia: "So, you're actually going to try and act all brave when you're so weak before me."

To prove his point, Goetia punched the barrier as hard as he could, forming a small crack in it.

Solomon however, remained serene.

Solomon: "I suppose I should hurry this along then."

Goetia: "... No..."

Solomon: "It's time I taught you the final magecraft."

Goetia began to panic and punched the barrier repeatedly as fast as he could, now knowing what was coming.

Goetia: "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! These rings, The Omnipotent seals, are no longer yours alone!"

Solomon: "The time of birth has come, he is the one who masters all..."

Goetia's punches became more frenzied as Solomon continued.

Y/n: "ROMAN!!"

Solomon: "The time of crowning has come, he is the one who begins all..."

Goetia: "STOP!!!!"

Goetia finally managed to break through the barrier and sent a punch straight through Solomon's abdomen. 

Goetia: "Heh... Hehahahaha!"

Solomon never lost his serene smile, even when being impaled by Goetia's massive fist.

Goetia: "You... Lose."

Solomon: "... Do I really though?"

Goetia's eyes widened in horror as Solomon raised his hands to the sky above him. Ten golden lights formed between his palms.

Goetia: "NO!!"

Solomon: "Y/n. Would you mind keeping him still for me?"

Y/n was still stunned, however he reluctantly agreed and ran over to the two before grabbing Goetia by his free arm.

Solomon: "The time of parting has come. I am he who surrenders the world."

Y/n shut his eyes as red tears continued to flow from them.

Solomon: "Ars... Nova."

The ten rings of Solomon were clasped in his hands before he let them go.

Solomon: "O heavenly father, I return to you your blessings. Omnipotence is too much for humans to handle. From now on, my works shall be done within the limits of humanity."

The ten rings flew up into the air before suddenly flying back down and sending Goetia flying towards the white throne, where they pinned him. Y/n was knocked back a few feet, but quickly got back up and ran over to Solomon as he stood serenely.

Sakura: "Solomon!"

Arcueid: "Romani!"

The three masters stood before the king of mages before Goetia yelled at Solomon again.

Goetia: "WHY!? WHY DO YOU TRY TO SAVE MANKIND!? WHY NOW WHEN ALL YOU DID IN LIFE WAS SIT BACK AND WATCH COUNTLESS TRAGEDIES!?"

Solomon: "Goetia. Beast born of my corpse. We sat upon the same throne, saw the same things and spent the same time together. But if there was one difference between the two of us... I'd have to say it was that I didn't have the freedom to get mad."

Goetia: "Y- You-!"

Y/n: "Solomon. You don't need to do this. Give me a few minutes, I can-"

Solomon put his hand on Y/n's face.

Solomon: "My part in this tale has come to it's end, Y/n. Solomon will, from here on out, disappear from the throne of heroes. Do not waste your magic on me. I'm eternally grateful for all the time I've spent with all six of you. Gudao. Gudako. Ophelia. Arcueid. Sakura. And you, Y/n."

Y/n could not hold anything back anymore and he hugged Solomon as he sobbed relentlessly.

Solomon: "I'm grateful for every second we all shared. For every laugh. Every tear. Every conversation. All of it."

Y/n looked at Solomon's smiling face as he glowed a brilliant golden colour.

Solomon: "If I could live this all again, I absolutely would. In a heartbeat. I know this means nothing coming from me, but thank you. Thank you all for reminding me why I love humanity so much."

As a final gesture, Solomon raised his hand and wiped the crimson tears away from Y/n's eyes.

Solomon: "Truly, no matter what anyone says. As far as I'm concerned, the six of you truly are the best humans that have ever lived. Throughout all of human history."

And with that, Solomon disappeared. The three masters looked to where he stood with a sense of shock.

Out with the others, they felt that something had just been wrenched away from them. However they could not dwell on it as they continued to fight and give direction to the servants.

Goetia dropped from where he was pinned before looking to where Solomon once was.

Goetia: "... Fool. UTTER FOOL!!"

Y/n's sadness quickly turned to anger. He felt a primal, animalistic fury take him over. Goetia turned his attention to the magician as ten lights surrounded him.

Goetia: "W- WHAT!? NO!!"

Y/n glared up at Goetia with a look that could freeze hell.

Y/n: "White dragon king of the west sea. Celtic goddess of freezing winter. Primordial abyss of water. King of titans and father of the olympians. Blind deity who neither sees nor comprehends existence."

The words that came from Y/n's mouth next would haunt the existence of Beast I for all time.

Y/n: "The time of birth has passed. The time of coronation has passed. The time of parting has passed. Thou who would hear my words know this..."

The entire world was coated in a hue of red as Y/n's eyes glowed a brilliant white.

Y/n: "The time of vengeance hath come. I am he who shall bring about terminus...

ARS THEURGIA!!!"

End of Chapter.

Next Time: The Time of Vengeance.