Chapter 104: Beast VI

After exhausting every ounce of strength in a desperate struggle, seeing Roland still poised and composed, Angola Manuel finally ceased his futile resistance and spoke in a sickly voice.

“Why can’t you understand! Humanity is built upon malice and desire. After receiving the revelation of those twelve talismans, I am no longer a mere incarnation of malice—I bear a new mission!”

“You are indeed different from before. This entirely new stance is the best proof,” Roland said with a mocking expression as he looked at Angola Manuel.

“But in my kingdom, everyone must recognize their place. Humans, whether good or evil, young or old, I love them equally—just as I love wealth. Each of their lives, from birth to death, belongs to my kingdom, belongs to me!”

Roland let out a roar of anger. Among the many villains cursed by heaven and mankind’s wrath, the Holy Lord stood out as a refreshing current.

He neither sought to destroy the world nor aimed for some illusory peace, and even revenge against those who once sealed him was not his primary goal.

From the very beginning, his objective was to rule the world anew. Such a pure desire, compared to his power and stature, evoked a subtle sensation.

During the period when he used the annals of time to regain his rule, his desire was fully manifested. He demanded no blood sacrifices, did not kill for sport—after all, he could derive no pleasure from tormenting humans. Even his draconic followers were well-behaved guards, not wanton rebels.

When he held power, he was surprisingly tolerant, deliberately keeping his nemesis close. He did not hold grudges against the mistakes of the newcomer, Xiaoyu, at most acting like a tyrant.

In a sense, if one overlooked the fact that humans were enslaved, life in the Holy Lord’s kingdom was not terribly difficult. After all, he equally despised all humans and served as their greatest oppressor.

Roland couldn’t help but reveal a trace of murderous intent. Though not yet resolved to rule the world outright, such reckless stirring by this incarnation of worldly evil was utterly unacceptable.

What if he changed his mind later?

In short, Roland’s attitude was straightforward.

I may delay ruling humanity for now, but when I decide to, you must not leave anything in this world worthy of my dominion.

“I see...” Angola Manuel gazed at him and slowly spoke.

“It’s not that you resent the nature of this matter itself, but that your greed rejects this possibility.”

Sensing Roland’s murderous aura, Angola Manuel began to confess.

“Clinging to the old kingdom, unwilling to embrace new miracles? Perhaps you are the one to succeed my mission.”

Roland narrowed his eyes. “Destroying humanity is a ridiculous mission—it’s best to abandon it early.”

But faced with Roland’s ridicule, Angola Manuel remained composed, smiling peacefully.

“It seems you have yet to fully grasp my essence. If you speak of the former incarnation of worldly evil, the embodiment of six billion human malices, then yes, that was its wish. But I, Angola Manuel, am different now.”

“In this era, what is lost cannot return. Miracles can only affect the living—that is proof of the loss of divine favor. Impure humanity has lost its right. Yet this mercy will not withdraw. When heaven brings about the apocalypse, wiping all beauty and malice from this world, the Holy City will reemerge! In the new millennium, all will be redeemed!”

“I bear the mission of incarnating the enemy of the gods!”

Roland blinked, looking at Angola Manuel before him, suddenly understanding the reason behind his transformation.

“A beast…”

Though he had heard of the possibility of becoming a beast’s juvenile form after merging with the corrupted Sakura Matō during the Fifth Holy Grail War, he did not expect Angola Manuel to have achieved this alone. The greatest change left by the Holy Lord’s contracted spirit was indeed here.

“That’s right! This is the form I am destined to complete!” Angola Manuel grew increasingly deranged upon having his identity revealed.

“My evolution is not for destruction, but for the salvation of all humanity!”

Roland pondered briefly and nodded. “I roughly understand. So what does this have to do with me? I only need to hold onto the world as it is, and you will no longer have the chance to become the beast’s juvenile form.”

He raised his hand; flames kindled within it.

“My kingdom does not need catastrophes as unstable as you. Die.”

Angola Manuel sighed deeply as he faced the attack that could utterly annihilate him.

“I resist this sacrifice with all my heart, but if I am to not simply vanish, this is the only way.”

Suddenly, transformation coursed through his core.

Bound in form, Angola Manuel’s shape began to twist and break free from the talisman’s constraints, charging toward Roland.

In an instant, a pitch-black embryonic membrane enveloped Roland once more.

He had lost the beastly form, returning instead to a dark Holy Grail.

“As you said, Roland, I no longer have the right to become the beast’s juvenile form...” Angola Manuel lamented his grievance.

“—But you do.”

“Since I lost half of my essence as the Heavenly Holy Grail, my evolution was interrupted. Without you, I am trapped forever in this awkward state until obliteration.”

“But you are different. That half of the essence has fully merged into your body. If I am willing to relinquish everything, I can pass this mission onto you!”

Angola Manuel’s voice was laced with gnashing hatred and an indescribable hope.

“Thanks to that talisman, though I cannot comprehend it fully, the Heavenly Holy Grail and I have become two separate entities—meaning the wish-granting permission on me remains unused.”

“In this case, one wish brings double fulfillment. Victor of the Holy Grail War, now receive your deserved reward. Salvation granted solely to you—let the Black Holy Grail bestow it once again!”

Humanity endlessly repeats the same tragedies, and thus the cycles of disaster and karma never cease.

Wishes always appear beautiful.

In Angola Manuel’s eyes, Roland was still too young.

Even if he had not rejected Roland’s wish back then, it could have been twisted into malice just as it was now.

If you seek salvation for one, then satisfy you it shall be.

“Roland! I offer you this crown woven from sin!”

Presenting the Great Holy Grail—the core of the Third Law—along with the soul, flesh, and vision named the Incarnation of Worldly Evil, Angola Manuel transformed all of it into the nurturing embryonic membrane that descended upon Roland.

“Rest assured, Roland, you will become the most perfect, the ultimate being! Even the world itself will be powerless against you! Fed by the absolute malice of six billion humans! Whatever emerges—whether god or beast—will fulfill your demands.”

Angola Manuel’s voice drew near, deep and joyful, dripping with malice.

“—But by then, whether ‘you’ remain yourself is another matter entirely.”

“What—!”

Hearing Angola Manuel’s blasphemous words, Medea, who had just relaxed, lifted her staff imbued with magic once more.

On the blackened ground, aflame with fire and curses, vast magical arrays bloomed like flowers. Disregarding her own spiritual core, she unleashed multiple photon cannons that even made the void tremble, firing again at the dark embryo that Angola Manuel had become.

But midway, this force dissipated into smoke.

Beyond the dark membrane, a twisted serpent shadow emitted a venomous laugh.

“Don’t waste your efforts. At the moment of resurrection, Roland is already the strongest here. How could you possibly oppose him? If you doubt, try it, Saber of the Holy Sword. If you release your Noble Phantasm once more, perhaps you can exile us both.”

Angola Manuel seemed to truly embody the serpent of cunning words, continuously spitting sweet venom, causing the murky air around to thicken as if solidifying.

But Medea was utterly unaffected and once again unleashed her Noble Phantasm, seeking to purge the black sludge from Roland.

Yet this only earned Angola Manuel’s more merciless laughter.

The remnants of a mere heroic spirit, thinking they could interfere with the fusion of an otherworldly god and beast?

“Give up. This process is but a moment. Once completed, the beast’s juvenile form will be born. Watch closely—the beast’s majesty, taking the throne and authority from a false god’s hands!”

As if to prove Angola Manuel’s words true, the black sludge, existing between substance and non-substance, pulsed continuously, spreading like waves.

Angola Manuel sighed as he observed the scene.

“I thought the souls of four servants would suffice. I didn’t expect it to be so far from enough. Not a single head has been born.”

In Angola Manuel’s own evolution, devouring the souls of seven heroic spirits would transform him into a seven-headed, ten-horned great red dragon.

But placed upon Roland, such a sacrifice was far from sufficient. Thus, Roland remained a shapeless mass of flesh, hornless, eyeless, featureless. Even so, this unborn form was the best proof of his existence.

The evolution was complete. The Beast of Calamity, symbolizing human sin and desire, had been born into this world.

Though still a juvenile, he was born a king of the world, granted the right to desecrate all, ruling over vanity and decay.

He naturally bore ten sovereign crowns, wielding the power of the enemy of gods—Antimessiah.

With a roar, the earth would crack, rivers would run blood-red. At the end of despair, on the path of destruction, these were the best descriptions of him.

Once fully born, the world, history, and all life woven together—their histories, dreams, wishes, even the ends of time and space, all of human order—would be shattered by him.

Saber’s hand fell weakly—not out of fear, but from the weight of the fate he bore.

The Star Holy Sword trembled, continuously emitting guidance.

In the twisted summoning, the reason Saber came here was because of this creature.

It was the Holy Sword Bearer’s duty, the mission he was born to bear.

When a wish is fulfilled and all seems well, can he, a loyal Holy Sword Bearer, betray the contract with his master once again?

Saber didn’t know what expression to wear. He only awaited the hope that reason had already denied.

“Roland…”

“Roland... No, now this otherworldly god’s name can no longer be used! He already bears a new reverent title!” Angola Manuel’s voice grew more fanatical as he pondered how to address him.

The beast before him had countless aliases.

Antichrist, Beast of Revelation, Beast 666, Beast of Sodom, Satan...

But those were names given after his true form was revealed. What to call the still unhatched juvenile?

Soon, he reached a conclusion.

“Human Malice, the Sixth Beast wielding the power to kill.

—Beast VI.”

As the chaos expanded to a certain scale, it ceased multiplying and began to boil. Then, the roaring darkness bared its fangs at the world.

The beast writhed unpredictably, instinctively seeking the nearest city, eager to writhe, to devour, to satisfy its maddened appetite. Blurred illusions overlapped with genuine calamity as it roared.

Though the membrane had not yet ruptured, this instinct was the best proof of the beast’s awakening consciousness. The one called Roland, the otherworldly god, had likely been replaced.

Though Angola Manuel was merely parasitic upon the beast, feeding off its remnants, seeing the enemy who once left him helpless stride toward destruction was enough joy.

Having abandoned the beast’s mission, this fellow reverted to the vile conglomerate of malice he once was.

He even played the role of a servant to express his delight.

“—Rejoice! No, there is no need for more words. Feel this moment fully—this is the final chapter in human history!”

But at that moment, an anomaly occurred.

The surging black sludge suddenly halted, contracting repeatedly. A humming sound echoed from the high sky, continuous and unending. Ultimately, all curses, calamities, and desires were drawn back into the black embryonic membrane, vanishing without a trace.

“This is impossible!”

Angola Manuel looked up, confirming it was no illusion, and screamed hysterically. Before him was the Blasphemous Beast, the Antichrist, the ultimate embodiment of desire—how could it resist its own nature?

Even as a juvenile beast, its desires and essence should not be unaffected by that otherworldly god.

Unless...

Shaken by the overwhelming reality and risking being swallowed by the beast, Angola Manuel, thoroughly attached to the dark embryo, slowly sank into this trembling cradle of dreams.

Then he saw a humanoid dragon seated upon the throne at the center of the dark courtyard, eyes pure and crimson, gazing at Angola Manuel, beckoning him with a wave.

The next moment, that twisted body was gripped in Roland’s claw.

“This Human Malice is truly troublesome, yet it dares to try infecting me…”

Roland pinched Angola Manuel’s body, his voice icy.

“Angola Manuel, you truly underestimated the fate I bear.”

(The chapter ends)