Chapter 39: Tiamat
BOOM—!
At the exact moment the Blood Temple was struck by the stone axe, Shirou and the others had already been waiting there for some time.
"Let's go, everyone." Merlin waved his staff and said, taking the lead.
The group immediately stepped into the Blood Temple. The ground was covered in a viscous, sticky liquid, and hanging from the root systems dangling from the stone ceiling were 'eggs,' each containing a human corpse.
"These are all..." Mash looked at the underground world of the Blood Temple, clearly shaken. It was as if this place were a massive ovary. These humans were being used as incubation beds, destined to eventually be turned into nourishment for Demonic Beasts.
"That Gorgon, she is truly despicable!" Gudako said, her chest heaving with anger as she stared at the 'eggs.'
They proceeded to the center of the nest, where purple spring water churned and Gorgon's massive form manifested. She glared at Shirou with fury.
"To think you would pursue me here! What exactly do you gain by killing me?"
"The benefits are enormous," Shirou replied with a smile.
"Tch! You think that just because you've entered my Blood Temple, I would be afraid of you?!" Gorgon's voice seemed to roar through the chamber.
At this moment, Ishtar spoke up. "You are, after all, an impostor who only became a goddess by borrowing the power of the Holy Grail. Besides, Mother does not require other organisms to produce Demonic Beasts. To actually utilize humans to produce them—she is not a goddess who would commit such half-baked acts."
Hearing this, Gorgon's expression shifted instantly, her eyes bloodshot with rage.
Ana then removed the hood she had been wearing and looked up at Gorgon. "Gorgon, you can't even see your own true reflection; you are nothing but a common monster."
The moment she saw Ana, Gorgon's pupils vibrated violently, and a look of terror appeared on her face. "What is this chill... I'm going to go mad! What is going on, Enkidu! Hurry and drive that ugly monster out of this temple!"
"You really cannot see me anymore, can you?" Ana looked at Gorgon, somewhat disappointed. "If you were still willing to look at me, perhaps there would have been a sliver of a chance for salvation."
Shirou placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Feel free to use your divine power. Put an end to the future you do not desire."
"...Yes." Ana nodded, looking at Shirou with gratitude.
Although Merlin did not fully grasp the context of their exchange, he spoke up regardless. "Ana, do you need to unleash your suppressed divinity?"
"Yes, I authorize it, Merlin," Ana answered without hesitation.
In that moment, the circlet she wore vanished, and her body was enveloped in a purple light.
——Saint Graph Re-manifestation——
"Her Mystic Eyes will be countered by my own!"
In Gorgon's terrified gaze, Ana, having regained her divinity, made her declaration.
"No... don't... don't come any closer...!!!" Gorgon shrieked in terror.
"Die!"
Ana brandished her scythe and charged at the gargantuan Gorgon. In reality, regarding battles between gods, what matters is the quality of one's innate power; size for the sake of show is merely becoming a target.
Hatred, resentment, horror... various negative emotions radiated from Gorgon. From the mouths of the snakes that made up her hair, purple torrents of magical energy condensed and shot out in every direction. However, Ana moved nimbly, jumping and dodging between Gorgon's flailing limbs. Finally, she sprinted along Gorgon's fair skin toward her neck, and with a swing of her scythe, she struck down!
"NO—!!!"
Amidst a piercing scream, Gorgon's body gradually dissipated. Simultaneously, Ana's body, which should have also vanished along with her, glowed with a golden light and was forcibly kept in existence. As long as Shirou's goal was not the destruction of humanity, the Counter Force generally allowed him to do as he pleased. The Counter Force was, after all, the will of the planet—not as cunning as a human, nor driven by desires; it simply existed for a single, unyielding goal.
.
.
.
After Gorgon was defeated, Enkidu's figure appeared within the Blood Temple, but there was no sorrow on his face for the loss of his 'mother.' Gorgon was not his mother; from the very beginning, Enkidu had stated that his mother was Tiamat.
"Is our battle finished, then?" Gudako watched the returning Ana, still unable to understand what it meant that Ana had not vanished along with Gorgon.
Merlin, however, looked at Ana with complete astonishment. "This is...?"
"Shirou helped me," Ana said.
"So that's it..." Merlin looked at Shirou with surprise, then chuckled. "I won't ask how you did it."
"But... thank goodness. This way, Ana, you can continue to exist in this world and live happily. I am truly happy for you," Merlin said to her with a smile.
Then, Merlin looked toward the direction where Gorgon had vanished, his expression turning grave. "Gorgon recovered her past divinity through the power of the Holy Grail, but she herself did not possess the Grail. Which means... the true owner of the Holy Grail is..."
Simultaneously, a voice filled with confusion echoed from the communicator on Gudako's wrist.
"Gorgon has been confirmed eliminated. But... why does this Singularity still exist?"
"Sheba 02, 06, 09 destroyed!" other staff members reported.
Da Vinci's voice came through the communicator as well. "This is... Romani, it's bad! It's a spacetime tremor! The entire Mesopotamian world is experiencing a spatial fracture!"
"Doctor! You have to look at this!"
Hearing this, Roman hurriedly looked at the screen, and in that instant, his expression went blank.
"What... is this...!?"
Merlin, who was perplexed by the situation, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Ugh...!"
Merlin stared intently at Enkidu, who had broken into a smile, and suddenly understood.
"Damn it, so that's how it is. In a duel of mutual deception, I was actually outplayed by a single move...!"
"That's right, that is exactly how it is, you cunning incubus~" Enkidu revealed a joyful smile. "You placed a cage of dreams on Mother, delaying her time of awakening. My only worry was how to wake Mother from her dream. Since she couldn't wake up while 'alive,' it was simpler to just kill her once first."
Gorgon possessed Tiamat's authority, 'Mother of the Hundred Beasts.' That was not a copy; it was synchronized with Tiamat herself.
"You defeated Gorgon, and Mother—who was synchronized with Gorgon—felt the impact of that death. I had actually wanted to help Gorgon fulfill her wish, but that is in the past now.
Everyone, witness the true form of our Mother! Behold the original sin of humanity! You 'old' humans will be weeded out!"
Declaring this loudly, Enkidu's figure flew rapidly away from the Blood Temple.
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