Chapter 648: The Giant Awakens

Retreat.

Now, immediately, at once.

This was Shinji's first reaction as he snapped out of his initial shock. He wasn't ready to face Altera in any aspect.

His exploration of the fictional world had just begun. He hadn't fully grasped the power system based on spirit particles and information, the permissions acquired from Shirou were not entirely developed, and the newly understood magic needed time to be familiarized with. More importantly, he hadn't figured out how to deal with Altera's issue.

Judging by her crimes alone—invading Mooncell, seizing all possibilities, and destroying surface civilization—dying ten times wouldn't be excessive.

But these weren't her subjective intentions. They were imposed on her by the Predatory Star. Altera herself was a victim. The Predatory Star destroyed countless civilizations during its cosmic feasting tour, and the vanguards it dispatched were weapons created from the data of those obliterated civilizations.

Altera's sample was from a civilization centered around women, marked by gentleness, beauty, and compassion. Altera inherited these traits. Though she couldn't defy the will of the Predatory Star and caused immense calamity to Earth and Mooncell, she always harbored doubts about her mission. Even after awakening, she hadn't stepped out of the lunar landing pod, which was this stone chamber.

It wasn't that she couldn't leave; Mooncell's seal couldn't stop her. She simply didn't want to go out. Once she did, she would have to execute the Predatory Star's orders—conquer Mooncell and use its power to create the Sefar avatars on Earth, bringing destruction.

Facing such an existence, Shinji couldn't steel himself—though whether he could kill her was another matter.

He couldn't, but someone else could.

Arcueid, the Natural God born of the planet, the last Spirit of this world, Gaia's daughter had forgotten the destruction 14,000 years ago, but the planet hadn't. Gaia, who had heard the cries of countless lives, hadn't.

That day, Gaia remembered the terror of the giant—this was no joke. The horror of Sefar was etched into the planet's memory.

This terror was naturally imprinted in Arcueid's heart.

The best way to eliminate terror is—to destroy the source of fear.

Kill!

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Arcueid's golden hair, more dazzling than gold, fluttered with killing intent. Her red eyes turned golden, and the desolation in the depths of her pupils made Shinji shudder.

"No, stop!"

Shinji's shout came too late. Arcueid had already leaped high, landing directly on the temple, her five fingers curved into claws, fiercely grabbing the giantess's throat.

Then, the ground shook.

Of course, this wasn't caused by Arcueid; her strength wasn't enough to shake the earth.

The tremor was because the brown mountain before them was rising. The giant's movements were so majestic and grand that it created this illusion.

The atmosphere in the stone chamber changed.

It was—a blackness that seemed to erode the heart, as deep and dark as the void, casting shadows over the entire field of view.

It was a colossal entity, too vast to grasp in its entirety.

She, the giant god, Altera, awakened.

This absolute external foe of the solar system slowly sat up from the temple, looking at the ground where Shinji Matou stood.

"Good morning... may I ask... who are you?"

Her voice was so gentle, calm, and full of intellect, completely devoid of any destroyer's aura. There was no hostility, killing intent, or even the slightest battle intent, even though one of her hands on the temple was still pressing down on the invading Arcueid, who wanted to harm her.

Whether by coincidence or defensive instinct, Altera had flipped over at the moment Arcueid reached out, her left hand conveniently pressing down on Arcueid, much like Buddha trapping Sun Wukong under the Five Finger Mountain.

The difference was, Buddha placed a talisman to ensure Sun Wukong couldn't escape. Altera did not, giving Arcueid a chance to break free.

Blood splattered, power surged, and A+-level strength was exerted to its peak.

Archueid, now in battle mode, broke free from the restraint, her claws, harder than steel, tearing through the giant's brown skin.

For a giant over fifteen meters tall, Arcueid's claw only scratched the surface, not even drawing blood. Yet, this still sparked hostility in Altera's eyes.

The gentleness and calm, the intellect and kindness completely vanished. Unlike Shinji, who could be influenced by emotions, she was a pure warrior who showed no mercy once she deemed someone an enemy.

"Is that so? Are you here to fight me?"

Sighing regretfully, she casually flung the injured Arcueid away. In a similar structure, size doesn't necessarily mean combat power, but it certainly means strength.

"Too foolish. This isn't even at the level of ants challenging humans; it's ants foolishly trying to challenge a giant. Ah—what a headache. Humans are still the same, always doing pointless things."

Her next move didn't pause for an instant. Her upper body leaned out from the temple she used as a bed, and her massive arm swung in the direction where Arcueid fell.

The golden covering on the ground scattered like an avalanche, revealing Arcueid buried within. Her expression remained indifferent as she spoke the true name of her Noble Phantasm in a flat tone.

"Blut die Schwester!"

As a Servant, she naturally had a Noble Phantasm, even if just in form.

Arcueid's Noble Phantasm stemmed from her nature. She is a replica of the Moon King, Crimson Moon, and Gaia's daughter, an avatar of the Moon and an embodiment of Earth, possessing dual characteristics of both the Earth and the Moon.

She can simultaneously manifest the fundamental laws of the Earth and the Moon, using their discord as an attack method. One such method is to adjust the surrounding environment to Earth's side (herself), such as modifying gravity to Earth's conditions.

The Moon's gravity is one-sixth of Earth's, and the same goes for the fictional world. In other words, when she uses this ability, the surrounding gravity increases sixfold, significantly weakening the enemy's strength.

Since this is a conceptual change in values, no matter how high the enemy's magic resistance is, there's no way to defend against it while on the Moon.

Incidentally, the Servant stats show this Noble Phantasm as rank E. In response, Shinji remarked that Gaia must be cheating. He knows best how significant the impact of changing the gravity environment can be, not to mention this Noble Phantasm can change more than just the gravity environment. Adding an X after the E would be more accurate.

Now, this Noble Phantasm, with a missing letter in its rank, finally showed its power.