Chapter 42: Dropping the Ball, As Usual
Her figure stood many meters tall, draped in deep blue garments adorned with profound, mysterious runes and patterns.
The exquisite figure appeared in the center of the sea. Shirou's gaze caught sight of that ultimate beauty; at the same time, Tiamat naturally noticed his line of sight and locked eyes with him.
In that moment, it was as if they were empathizing with one another, experiencing a complex array of emotions.
Joy, exhilaration, sorrow, sadness, being moved, excitement... various complicated and wondrous emotions intertwined.
In the very next second, Tiamat gently parted her lips, and her beautiful voice spilled forth like a celestial melody.
"AaAaAa——!!"
It was clearly a beautiful and enchanting song, yet it inflicted mental interference on everyone who heard it.
Except for Shirou, who was able to disregard the song, everyone else—Gudako, Mash, and Ana—showed expressions of pain upon hearing it.
"Is that the mother of the demonic beasts... so beautiful..." As the black dragon gradually carried them closer to the center of the sea, seeing the beautiful form of that Mother Goddess of Creation, Gudako's pupils contracted slightly.
At this time, Ishtar, having resolved numerous 'Lahmu' along the way, had also caught up.
"That's right, that is the goddess Tiamat," Ishtar said, looking at the female figure with certainty.
"Wait... are her feet shackled?" Mash suddenly noticed this detail.
"That's correct; she cannot move freely. Now is a good opportunity!" Ishtar said.
"If we want to defeat her, we have to take this chance...!" Gudako nodded with a serious expression.
At this moment, seemingly sensing the hostility of the goddess Ishtar, Tiamat raised her face to look at them, then opened her mouth to emit her song.
"AaAaAa——!!!"
In that instant, a fierce gale of magical energy swept up.
Roman's panicked voice came through the communicator on Gudako's wrist immediately.
"The magical energy reaction inside the goddess Tiamat is increasing! This amount of magical energy is on par with a hydrogen bomb! Once she releases it, it could level Uruk flat from this very spot!"
Hearing this, Gudako's expression turned anxious.
"Wait, don't get any closer to her! Solve it from a distance!" Ishtar said. "I have a plan. Use a Command Spell to lend me a hand!"
Hearing this, Gudako immediately raised her right hand, and the scarlet Command Spell bloomed with light.
"Alright, then I'm counting on you, Ishtar!"
The massive magical energy of the Command Spell poured into Ishtar's body.
Feeling the vast magical power surging within her, Ishtar gave a confident smile and swung her right hand downward sharply.
"Leave it to me!"
The sky split open, revealing a massive fissure, and within that fissure lay the stars of the universe.
A Heroic Spirit in Servant form is nowhere near as powerful as their original divine self.
But at this moment, Ishtar was in her true form, and with the added support of the massive magical energy from the Command Spell, the power she unleashed reached EX rank.
Simultaneously, Ishtar raised her right hand and then swung it down fiercely toward the target below.
"Shatter—「An Gal Ta Ki Gal She (Tremble, O Mountain of the Star of Heaven)」!!!"
Ishtar's strongest blow transformed into a beam of light that could shatter everything, streaking toward Tiamat's body.
Under the impact of that immense power, the world seemed to lose its color; the sea surged and evaporated, leaving behind a massive void.
"Did we hit her...?" Gudako whispered, her mouth slightly agape.
Just then, Roman's somewhat excited voice came through the communicator.
"Confirmed: Tiamat's Saint Graph has collapsed! Her magical energy reactor has also stopped!"
"In other words..." Gudako's eyes widened.
"We defeated her!" Roman's voice became jubilant as well.
"That's great, we succeeded! We succeeded, Senpai!" Mash cheered as well.
Quetzalcoatl and Ereshkigal also arrived on the scene riding a wyvern.
"Did we defeat her?"
"Yes, it appears so," Ishtar replied.
"That's good."
All three goddesses breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as Gudako and the goddesses were immersed in the joy of success, Roman's anxious voice cut through the communicator.
"Wait a second, Tiamat's Saint Graph is reconstructing! It is changing from a diffuse state into a super-construct; her existence scale is increasing! Reconfiguration of the Saint Graph confirmed! The one from just before was only a head-body; this is her true self! You all must be careful—"
Before Roman could finish his sentence, massive waves erupted from the sea below.
It was a figure several times larger than the black dragon Shirou and the others were riding.
That familiar figure of Tiamat appeared in everyone's eyes once again.
Then, accompanied by the sound of her singing, the scarlet that covered the sea continued to spread toward Uruk.
"Damn it, how are we supposed to defeat her?!" Gudako shouted, her heart palpitating with fear.
"I have a way, but I need Ishtar to provide some restraint!" Quetzalcoatl spoke up at this moment.
Hearing this, Ishtar smiled and nodded.
"Mm, go ahead, what do you need me to do?"
"I just need you, Ishtar, to use the Bull of Heaven to hold the goddess Tiamat back," Quetzalcoatl said.
However, upon hearing this, Ishtar's expression suddenly froze.
"I... about that..."
"What's wrong, Ishtar?" Quetzalcoatl looked at her in confusion. Simultaneously, Gudako, Ereshkigal, Mash, and Ana turned their gazes toward her.
In that moment, Ishtar felt her cheeks burning with shame; she flushed red and shouted hysterically:
"I lost it!"
"Huh?" Everyone was stunned.
"I said I lost it! I lost the Bull of Heaven, waaaaaah!"
Hearing Ishtar's words, Quetzalcoatl was silent for a moment, finally sighing helplessly.
"Well, there's no helping it then. We'll just have to do it this way!"
Following that, Quetzalcoatl, determined to give it everything, stood up.
"The past existed here, and the present does as well!"
Golden divine light radiated from Quetzalcoatl, blindingly brilliant.
"The future exists here too!"
Quetzalcoatl chanted the incantation for the liberation of her power and raised her right hand.
In that instant, a golden halo lit up in the firmament.
"O gale, come forth! O thunder, descend! This is the time when Venus shines!"
Vast magical energy gathered above her palm.
"The sun also shines in the other direction—「Piedra del Sol (Sun Stone)」!!!"
Light bloomed in that moment; Tiamat's body was enveloped within it. Even the black mud evaporated under this power, and the sound of the sonic boom reached all the way to Uruk.
「Piedra del Sol」 is Quetzalcoatl's trump card, a massive ancient Aztec stone.
It is said to be the Aztec calendar that displays everything of the world's past and present.
A giant stone 3.75 meters in diameter appeared above her head, acting as a "door" to channel a portion of the authority of Quetzalcoatl herself—who is a divine spirit—as a manifestation of divine power, wreaking havoc with a powerful solar wind over a wide area.
"Did we finish her off?" Gudako looked at the battlefield surrounded by the overturned giant waves.