[Independent Manifestation] is a special skill unique to Beast-class Servants, the ultimate evil of humanity. It's an enhanced version of a Servant's innate skill to materialize independently into the world. Not even Shirou's Noble Phantasm can copy this skill.
Beasts with Independent Manifestation can freely enter and exit their worlds. So when Beast manifested into another world, she soon sensed her "good" half, Kiara Sessyoin, had used her stolen authority to consume quite a few things.
But she wasn't angry. On the contrary, a mysterious smile of compassion crossed her face.
She was known as the "The Third Heretical Pleasure Heaven of Deeply Grateful Existence" - essentially the embodiment of the merciful bodhisattva. Apart from genuinely angering her as Shirou had before, no hostile or offensive actions could elicit any emotion from her beyond joy and compassion.
However, the figure before her now gave her pause. Glowing with golden light, he claimed to be Goetia, the Demon King.
"The Council?" she asked, puzzlement in her voice.
"That's right," Goetia affirmed. "Despite our differing goals, we face the same enemies. Join the Council. You won't succeed alone."
"Oh...I remember now. You brought me here from that place, right?"
Goetia sighed again. "That was an unintentional mistake on our part, caused by outside interference. It does not change our high opinion of you and your ambitions."
He gestured broadly. "Your goal is to turn this earth into a land of pleasure and a place to satisfy your desires, isn't it? But with those Heroic Spirits around, it would be extremely difficult for you alone."
She laughed, the sound light and lilting. "You know me so well, yet you've come too late. Had you approached me earlier, I'd have agreed without hesitation." Her smile turned coy. "But now I have someone I must...observe first. Before I can fill myself."
Goetia's eyes narrowed, though his tone remained even. "So you refuse to join our council then."
"After you disrupted my work, leaving my authority incomplete?" Her musical laugh returned. "If you think about it, we should be enemies now."
Rainbow tentacles burst out from her body, trying to grab Goetia's glowing body. Yet the moment they made contact, they shattered into prismatic shards.
Goetia was unfazed. With cold eyes, he asked, "You want to fight me?"
"How frightening," an amused smile playing on her lips. "I wanted you to experience some joy, but it seems you don't want any part of it. Hehe..."
Still smiling, her figure grew fainter and fainter until she finally vanished.
"She escaped," said a voice.
"Yes," Goetia nodded, his eyes turning to the person beside him.
It was someone wearing a black cloak.
The person said, "That's why I suggested we destroy Chaldea directly. Why bother looking for allies from other worlds?"
"Chaldea is nothing to worry about," said Goetia dismissively.
"But one 'anchor' has already been removed! We all know the connection points are just a distraction for the counter force. The real key is those seven 'anchors'! If all seven anchors are removed, everything the Council wants to achieve—everything you, me and the others joined the Council to do—will be meaningless."
"Of course I know that," said Goetia, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Then why did you spare that Master called 'Fujimaru Ritsuka' at the first connection point?" the person pressed.
Goetia glanced at him. "Since when has the Council begun interfering in the affairs of its members?"
"The Council won't interfere, naturally," the person replied, "but I'm very curious personally. Could it be you want to betray the Council? Or are you actually King Solomon's mole planted in the Council?"
Goetia let out a derisive snort. "Instead of wasting time on useless things, maybe you should be thinking about how to stop Chaldea from invading. They've already found the second anchor, right?"
"Indeed," the person replied. "I have to hand it to them for finding the anchor without knowing how the connection points actually work. Even if they stumbled on it by chance, it shows they've got some skills. But as for defending against them—" a grin spread across their face "—I already have a plan."
Goetia's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what might that be?"
"Well since they're using Heroic Spirits to invade, we'll fight fire with fire! I'm going to summon Eternal King!"
Goetia's frown deepened. "Abandon that foolish notion. That Heroic Spirit is not one you can control. Or have you forgotten what happened with the first anchor?"
"Of course I remember, it was that Avenger Edmund Dantes who screwed everything up by turning on us at the last second. Allowing that little girl to remove the first anchor...ridiculous!" the person scoffed.
"The proof of failure is right in front of you, yet you still wish to repeat the same mistakes?"
"Repeat? Haha!" The person let out a hollow, mocking laugh. "You don't get it, Goetia. What I want to summon is Eternal King Alter!"
At this, Goetia raised his eyebrows in understanding. "I see...in that case, it would indeed be easier to control."
"Exactly! The more intense the love, the more scorching the hatred. The brighter the hope, the deeper the despair. And likewise, the more righteous one is, the more evil they can become...Alters are the flipped side of Heroic Spirits. By summoning the king this way, he would become Eternal King Alter!"
The person cracked a smile, "Not only that, I plan on overlapping his summoning with some evil Anti-Heroes to create a higher ranking composite Servant! Even if Eternal King retains some of his rational self when summoned, merging with those evil traits would degenerate him into a violent Eternal King."
"An interesting theory, but Eternal King has been sleeping deep within the Throne of Heroes. I'm afraid it would be difficult to summon him out," Goetia reminded.
"Whether he likes it or not, he has little choice in the matter. Have you forgotten who is in our Council? She has already prepared the ritual to drag him out from the Throne by force."
The person smirked and continued, "Of course, I won't use him at the second anchor right away. Just in case he truly cannot be controlled, which could lead to self-destruction instead. Hehe... I have set up an experimental connection point where experiments can first be conducted to test if this method is viable or not."
"I see. If it's possible, that would give the Council another layer of protection," Goetia said with a nod. He stood up, getting ready to leave.
"Where are you going?" The person asked.
"I need to report your method to the Council. And I should get back to protect my anchor. Chaldea is swarming like locusts lately. Even though I hid my anchor really carefully, there's still a small chance they may stumble upon it," Goetia explained.
"That's why I keep saying, taking out Chaldea is the way to go," the person scoffed coldly.
Goetia paid him no mind and left without another word.
The person turned back and began preparing for his summoning ritual.
"Oh Eternal King, wake up from your endless abyss!"
...
Lost between dimensions, Shirou suddenly perked up with a frown.
"Something wrong, Mr. Assassin?" Adam stopped, tilting his head as he glanced at Shirou on his shoulder. "Did you find the exit?"
"No." Shirou shook his head. "Someone's summoning my record as Eternal King from the Throne of Heroes."
"Summoning you?" Adam looked confused.
Shirou gave a nod. "It's not random - more like..."
He knitted his brows. "A targeted summoning... They're specifically choosing me, the Eternal King!"
...
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