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Surrounded, Daji looked at everyone, narrowed her eyes, considered her options, then sighed and sat down, raising her hands. "A Holy Sword user, a fairy, a half-beast, and a monster's eyes… I surrender, I surrender. I'll be good, okay? Just don't hit my face. It's important for my business."

Seeing Daji acting submissive, Morrigan relaxed.

The truth was, she didn't want to fight Daji either. Daji had Xian Arts and ancient witch curses from the Xia-Shang period at her disposal, and she was also a Beast. If they fought and she transformed into Beast V, the outcome would be unpredictable. It was best that she was cooperating and not plotting anything.

"Good," Morrigan said with a sniff.

Unable to do business and with her freedom restricted, Daji hummed a tune out of boredom. It was lively and cheerful, like a bird singing, quite pleasant to the ear.

Kiara was captivated. "What tune is that?" she asked.

"You like it?" Daji looked at her in surprise.

Kiara nodded.

"My, my. I didn't expect my kouhai to have such a sweet side," Daji said, smiling like a sly fox. "It's a song a young man sang to a little fox while he was hunting."

"A little fox?"

"Yes," Daji said. "The man shot a fleeing fox with his arrow. But the fox was lucky – the man had just been made king by his father, and to avoid bad luck and celebrate his coronation, he hummed that song and let the fox go. However, that little fox later played a key role in the destruction of his family and his kingdom."

"Why?" Kiara asked.

"Oh my, are you interested in the story? I'll tell you," Daji said with a smile.

"Kiara, don't ask!" Morrigan said, her eyes narrowed. "Be careful! She's a master of deception!"

"My, my. You're too suspicious of me, Morgan," Daji said with a smile. "Sometimes, focusing too much on one thing makes you miss other things."

"Shut up!" Morrigan said sharply.

Daji's eyes flashed with a cold light, but seeing Artoria gripping her swords and Ayaka ready for a fight, she quickly assessed the situation. Her chances of winning were less than 80%. She narrowed her eyes again and said sweetly, "Fine, I'll be quiet."

In a battle or war, a 30% chance of victory would be something to celebrate. But Daji was cautious – she wouldn't act unless she had at least an 80% chance of success.

"But don't say I didn't warn you," Daji said. "Your Shirou is in a very dangerous situation right now."

"Is it my other self?" Kiara asked quickly. She hadn't seen Demonic Bodhisattva since they left the past plane.

She had hoped to find her, perhaps near Daji, but she hadn't.

"While your other self is dangerous, he is quite resistant to her," Daji said. "Honestly, there haven't been many men throughout history who could restrain pleasure to that degree, let alone a king who could do as he pleased. His danger comes from somewhere else."

"From where?" Artoria asked, unable to help herself. She could remain calm about other matters, but anything concerning Shirou and Mordred made it impossible for her to think clearly.

Daji smiled and gestured vaguely into the distance. "The place he's going, the unknown he's exploring, whether above or below… those supreme beings will destroy him."

After a pause, Daji added, "Of course, you could help him."

"How?" Artoria asked, worry in her voice.

Daji's eyes lit up. She rubbed her hands together and gave them a professional smile. "The place he's in is quite dangerous. To help him escape danger, I have some special items here. Of course, they'll cost a small fee…"

...

"Oh my. It seems my senpai has quite keen senses. To be able to detect your eyes, not bad."

Standing on the high mountain, overlooking the world below, Demonic Bodhisattva glanced at Daji, who was surrounded by Morrigan and the others. Then she turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on the woman beside her.

"Wouldn't you say so, Manaka Sajyou?" she asked with a smile.

"If she couldn't detect my eyes in Ayaka, how could she withstand Beast V's bestial nature?" Manaka chuckled.

"That's true." Demonic Bodhisattva felt a shiver run down her spine, but she kept smiling. "I suddenly remembered that Daji-senpai needs my attention, so I'll be taking my leave."

As she turned to go, she found Manaka already standing in front of her, laughing softly. "Don't leave so soon. I believe this is our first proper meeting – there's no need to fear me so much."

"How could I fear you? If anyone should be afraid, it should be you—"

Killing intent flashed in Demonic Bodhisattva's eyes. The ground beneath Manaka cracked like a spiderweb, and countless ghostly hands erupted from the fissures, surging towards her like a waterfall.

—Got her! she thought triumphantly.

But in that moment of supposed triumph, everything went wrong. Just as she prepared to unleash [Ten Thousand Colored Leisure Stagnation], to draw Manaka into her endless realm of pleasure, she felt it - a force so overwhelming it defied comprehension. It poured from Manaka's body like a tidal wave, not just resisting but actively consuming everything it touched. Her Authority, her perfect technique, even [Ten Thousand Colored Leisure Stagnation] itself - all of it was being devoured, drawn into Manaka's being like light into a black hole.

"How... how is this possible...!" Demonic Bodhisattva's voice cracked with disbelief. She could only watch, paralyzed with horror, as her hands began disappearing into Manaka's body one by one. Each finger, each palm, absorbed as if they had never existed. Her power, which had enslaved gods and demons alike, was being consumed like morning dew under a burning sun.

Pleasure has no heart or substance, yet it exists in all things. Demonic Bodhisattva was the master of pleasure; anything with desire should be under her control.

From her observation, Manaka had desires - strong ones at that. Demonic Bodhisattva should have been able to control her, but it was the other way around.

"What's wrong?" Manaka asked with a light laugh. "Is this all the power a Beast has to offer?"

Demonic Bodhisattva couldn't speak. Cold sweat trickled down her face.

"This really makes my past self, who sought the power of a Beast, seem foolish and naive," Manaka said softly.

"The Queen of Evil…"

A heavy feeling settled in Demonic Bodhisattva's chest. She finally understood the true meaning of those words. In an instant, Manaka Sajyou had completely absorbed and assimilated her Beast Authority.

"You only have half your Authority, interesting. Well, with this, Beast VI and Beast III are mine. And in this connecting point, there's still Beast V and Beast II... What a good start. Time for a feast..." Manaka ignored Demonic Bodhisattva and turned to look at Daji, who was surrounded by the others.

"You've just revived and become the Queen of Evil. Is your goal to hunt Beasts?" Demonic Bodhisattva asked.

"Naturally. It's my destiny," Manaka replied with a smile. Then, looking at her, she added, "And of course, this is a small punishment for you."

"Punishment? I haven't done anything to you!" Demonic Bodhisattva protested.

"Really? In the past plane, you tried to disrupt my revival plan. You threw Kiara and Ayaka into my reviving Beast egg. The people behind you tried to use them to prevent my revival, but they didn't expect Fujimaru Shirou to defeat my past self. And what you expected even less was that Kiara never succumbed to hatred, so she couldn't become another you, replace me, and use the Beast's placenta to transform into another Beast. Am I right, Kiara-chan?" Manaka said with a light laugh.

Demonic Bodhisattva gritted her teeth. Manaka Sajyou had seen through everything.

She and Kiara were two sides of the same coin – Demon and Buddha. A Demon could become a Buddha through love, and a Buddha could become a Demon through hate. Demonic Bodhisattva had planned to exploit Kiara Sessyoin's hatred to transform her into another Demonic Bodhisattva, seize control of the Beast egg's revival, replace Manaka, and become a new Beast. But unexpectedly, Kiara never developed that hatred.

"I know who's behind you," Manaka continued, "and I know why you follow their orders. You wanted to use this to find the answer you sought, to convince yourself that Demonic Bodhisattva was right. But unfortunately, Kiara stayed true to herself. And I might as well tell you, before you and my past self even acted, I had already planted a seed in Kiara's heart to prevent her from hating you. Everything, from beginning to end, was within my expectations."

Demonic Bodhisattva stared blankly at the smiling Manaka. "Then what is your true purpose?" she asked. "If collecting Beast's authority is your goal, you didn't need to act against me now. You should be targeting Fujimaru Shirou... wait, I see, are you helping him?"

"Help Shirou?" Manaka chuckled. "Would you help someone who killed you?"

"Then why aren't you going after him now? If you're collecting Beast' authority, he must be your greatest obstacle!"

"I'm quite looking forward to facing this obstacle," Manaka replied. "A game with only one player, a smooth game without a challenge, is no fun. However, he needs to overcome this hurdle first. Because even if I don't interfere, his chances of winning are slim."

Manaka raised her head and looked at Saturn in the sky. "Saturn being persuaded by Tethys's phantom was within my calculations," she said. "That's why I deliberately spared her in the past plane. However, Uranus's hatred cannot be overcome with words."

"What is your true purpose?" Demonic Bodhisattva pressed.

"I am a discarded piece," Manaka declared, "but I want to tell them that I'm back. So, I'll tell you – my purpose is to replace the Lord of Salvation!"

Demonic Bodhisattva stared at Manaka Sajyou in disbelief. She was clearly insane.

What had she just said?

She wanted to replace the Lord of Salvation, replace that ultimate despair?