Shinji Matou at Your Service

Time lost its meaning in front of the Golden Princess and Silver Princess, as the magus who saw them had already lost their ability to grasp time. They could only stare blankly at this pair of indescribable twins. Some even pressed their hands against their eyes, as if trying to permanently imprint this scene onto their retinas.

Although inappropriate, the atmosphere in the banquet hall was like that of believers witnessing the descent of their Lord. The high-ranking officials of the old rival, the Holy Church, would surely drop their jaws or laugh their teeth off if they saw this scene.

And this was still with the most beautiful twins wearing veils. One can imagine what kind of sensation it would cause if they removed their veils and exposed their true faces. Without a doubt, this was the destructive power of the Golden Princess and Silver Princess who pursued the Root through beauty.

Even Touko found it difficult to resist such beauty, and could only remove her glasses and switch to her ice queen persona.

"I see... so that's the twin Princess. Although I've heard rumors, I didn't expect it to be to this extent. I can't help but praise the history of Iselma."

"Indeed, it's praiseworthy. In the Age of Gods, they might have been able to gather faith and wield the authority of Manifestation of Beauty. But excluding the spiritual resonance caused by the mystical level, it's not that special. They're beautiful, sure, but technically they might not surpass Einzbern."

Touko turned her head and saw that Shinji's expression hadn't changed from before. Even his tone was the same, seemingly unaffected by the Golden Princess and Silver Princess. Curious, she asked:

"You don't have any reaction at all?"

"What reaction should I have?"

Shinji chuckled, "How could someone walking the path of the Third Magic be so easily shaken? It's not like they've reached the Root."

"You're making fun of me."

Touko gave Shinji a side-eye. She too had stepped into the realm of the Third Magic.

"You're different. You come from a creative background, so your fixation on beauty is stronger than the average magus."

After Touko rebelled against her family, she entered the field of creation. Most people in this field are artists. Although their main directions differ, they all choose to reach the Root through beauty. They understand how to appreciate beauty more, and relatively, their resistance to beauty is also a bit weaker.

"Besides, compared to those people over there who haven't regained consciousness yet, you're already very impressive."

"At least you know how to talk."

A hint of charm appeared in her cold profile, which, to Shinji, was more heart-stirring than the twins above.

Noticing the change in his attitude, Touko raised her hand, preparing to put on her glasses, but was stopped by Shinji.

"Wait a moment, the real show is about to begin."

A glimmer of azure light flowed subtly, and his empty hand quietly moved behind his back, snapping his fingers.

At this time, the impact of beauty brought by the Golden Princess and Silver Princess had not yet subsided. Even if someone had struck a gong or beaten a drum, it wouldn't have been possible to awaken the magus immersed in this feast of beauty.

But Shinji's finger snap did it. Although it was just a light sound, it directly entered the souls of others. This sudden sound was like a discordant note, turning the originally harmonious and perfect melody into a mess.

Some magus frowned, and some became angry, wanting to find this mood killer and teach him a lesson. However, before they could act, their mental defenses were torn apart again by a new appearance of beauty.

Opposite the stage, right above the entrance to the banquet hall, parallel to the stage, a dreamlike phantom was changing from hazy to clear.

Darkness and holiness, destruction and love, fragility and strength, hostility and kindness.

Contradictions, contradictions, oppositions, oppositions.

But built upon these contradictions was unparalleled beauty. Even though the lingering effects of the beauty brought by the Golden Princess and Silver Princess remained in their hearts, everyone present felt intense shock and impact and succumbed to this ultimate beauty.

"This, this is..."

Because she was prepared in advance, Touko didn't lose consciousness to this image this time, although she wasn't far from her mental defenses collapsing—in a sense, the information revealed in the phantom was closer to her pursuit than the Golden Princess and Silver Princess.

"...A deity???"

"Yes, and no."

Touko was looking at the image, while Shinji was looking at her.

"Stop being mysterious, just say it."

"She doesn't fit the human definition of a deity, she's neither a nature god nor a faith god, but in history, she was indeed called a god—The Giant God of Destruction."

"The Giant God of Destruction? I've never heard that name."

"Of course you haven't, because she almost destroyed Earth's civilization once, 14,000 years ago."

"Destroyed... civilization???"

Even in her ice queen state, Touko couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.

"That's right. The primordial nature gods were defeated by her one by one, beasts went berserk, humans were terrified, civilization wailed, and the survivors fearfully called her Sefar, the Giant God of Destruction."

"Sefar, the Giant God of Destruction, a life form far beyond human specifications."

Touko repeatedly savored the name Shinji finally revealed.

"So that's why she's so contradictory, yet so beautiful."

Indeed, the figure appearing in the image was the Giant God Altera, Shinji's trump card to counter the Golden Princess and Silver Princess.

Certainly, the twins who embarked on the path of seeking the Root elevated beauty to a high level of mystery, greatly attracting magus. But beautiful mysteries aren't just of one kind, there are others, such as the beauty of life specifications embodied by Altera.

Altera is a vanguard created by the Predator Star based on collected data, an existence born from humans but of a higher specification.

If the magus' spirits couldn't resist the Golden Princess and Silver Princess, their life instincts similarly couldn't resist Altera. Even the Golden Princess and Silver Princess, as incarnations of beauty, were no exception.

Satisfactorily scanning the people who had fallen into a state of worship, Shinji revealed a smug smile.

"The most beautiful? Who gave you such confidence? If Arcueid couldn't conveniently show up, I could have made your faces swell up, you bunch of frogs in a well."

So this was the so-called good show, the so-called greeting to Barthomeloi. Using beauty to counter beauty, using beauties to counter beauties—it neither touched the bottom line between factions nor saved Barthomeloi's face. This was the task entrusted by Lorelei, and also her most commonly used tactic.

Her Majesty the Queen disdains playing with schemes; she will defeat you in what you're best at.