"Shirou, welcome back~!"
Ishtar bounded down the temple steps to welcome her returning roommate.
"What are we having for dinner tonight? Since this is a rare opportunity, maybe I'll cook for a change."
With her hands clasped behind her back, she turned her face slightly aside, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
Rather than a newlywed wife, she looked more like a young girl experiencing her first love.
"D-don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I'm doing this for you..."
"Ishtar, let's go."
Shirou set aside the groceries he had bought and took her hand.
"Huh? Go? Where? W-wait! Have you finally decided to elope with me!?"
The goddess gleefully summoned the Boat of Heaven Ma'anna.
...
The operation officially began.
The Heroic Spirits assembled at the North Wall had all reached their assigned positions.
It was nine in the morning, the time of day when most Magical Beasts would be tormented by hunger.
The moment prey entered their field of vision, they would immediately attack.
At that point, the guerrilla unit led by Ushiwakamaru and Benkei would take the initiative, acting as bait to lure the Magical Beasts away.
With Shana-ō Yoshitsune's martial prowess, cutting through an army of Magical Beasts would pose no problem. The issue was that Magical Beasts differed from ordinary creatures. Devoid of emotion, they knew no fear and therefore had no concept of retreat.
The battle would continue until the last one was slain, which would take far too long. Using a decoy was their only option.
Meanwhile, while the Magical Beasts were being drawn away, Ritsuka, Mash, and Tomoe Gozen would follow their guide into Nippur City and escort the more than two hundred remaining citizens to safety at the North Wall.
No matter how capable Ushiwakamaru and the others were, a few Magical Beasts were bound to catch the citizens' scent. Protecting them would be Ritsuka and her team's responsibility.
Although the Magical Beast front had maintained regular communication with Nippur City, they had received no response for the past several days.
In the worst-case scenario, everyone in Nippur City might already have been wiped out...
"If you sense danger... No, that isn't right.
"If you confirm that it is already too late, please retreat immediately."
Leonidas I wore a grave expression, his gaze lingering on Ritsuka and Mash for a moment.
"I believe that you will one day be entrusted with an even greater mission.
"Therefore, preserving your own lives must take precedence over everything else. That is all I have to say."
Mash bowed deeply and solemnly. "Thank you for all your teaching and guidance, Professor Leonidas."
Don't raise such an ominous flag, Ritsuka complained inwardly.
The group left the North Wall and headed toward Nippur City, deep within Magical Beast territory.
Sure enough, the worst-case scenario had come to pass.
The number of Magical Beasts surrounding Nippur far exceeded their expectations, as well as the number reported by the scouts.
Many of them had even been hiding in the shadows around the corners of the city walls.
Merlin immediately considered the possibility that they had fallen into an enemy trap.
Given how important Ritsuka and Mash were to human history, they should abandon the rescue mission without hesitation and ensure that the two of them returned safely to the Magical Beast front.
Merlin himself had no objection to that.
But Ritsuka and Mash were both kindhearted girls. They would never stand by and allow the civilians inside Nippur City to die.
He had experienced situations like this many times before in Britannia, during Artoria's era.
The Magus of Flowers sighed.
"We have no choice. Let's advance at full speed!"
Merlin spread his Illusion Arts, and the group entered Nippur City under the cover of the Uruk soldiers.
Elsewhere, Ushiwakamaru and Musashibō Benkei were completely surrounded by nearly a thousand Magical Beasts.
Even more terrifyingly, a new hostile unit had appeared among them. The Ugallu, one of the highest-ranking Magical Beasts among the [Eleven Offspring of Tiamat].
The lower-ranking Magical Beasts could still be fought through the soldiers' coordinated teamwork, but enemies on the Ugallu's level were beyond human strength.
The soldiers' weapons could not penetrate their defenses. Realizing this, Ushiwakamaru made a cruel decision.
"Do not engage them alone! Form a square and focus entirely on defense!"
"You are no match for them! But you are not permitted to retreat! Stay alive for as long as possible and serve as my human shields!"
"In exchange for your lives, I will take every last one of their heads!"
The soldiers gritted their teeth. Although fear flickered in their eyes, they faithfully obeyed her command.
They discarded their weapons and gripped their shields with both hands, devoting themselves entirely to defense, while the young samurai used them as stepping stones.
Usumidori flashed, and the Magical Beasts' severed heads flew one after another.
"Tch... We've been completely outmaneuvered! At this rate, Nippur City is probably nothing but an empty shell!"
Ushiwakamaru noticed Magical Beasts pouring endlessly out of the cedar forest.
This could not be ordinary hunting behavior. It had to be an order from the enemy commander.
"We must wipe them out as quickly as possible and hurry to find Fujimaru-dono!"
"Ushiwakamaru-sama, do you intend to go to Nippur City?"
Hearing his master's words, Musashibō Benkei recalled something Gilgamesh had once said.
The wise king had specifically warned Ushiwakamaru never to approach Nippur City under any circumstances.
The king must have foreseen some kind of omen.
Hesitation appeared on the monk's face.
...
The one awaiting Ritsuka and the others with a grand reception inside Nippur City was an androgynous beauty with long green hair.
"This should be our third meeting, you worthless fools from Chaldea."
The young man calling himself Enkidu gave them a cold smile brimming with murderous intent.
Several days earlier, Ritsuka, Mash, and Gilgamesh had encountered Enkidu in the Persian Gulf.
Enkidu had once again chosen to flee, leaving him consumed by resentment and determined to settle his grudge with Chaldea today.
"I've been wondering about this for a while. There's blood everywhere, but no bodies. What did you do with them?"
Merlin frowned. "I doubt the citizens were killed by your rain of spears."
Enkidu laughed. "Of course I cleaned everything up last night. Is there a problem?
"Humans are precious resources. I couldn't simply leave them here instead of bringing them back to the nest to nourish the children, could I?"
His smile held a cruelty that sent chills down their spines.
The truth revealed by their enemy drained the color from the girls' faces.
Until now, the most common recorded fate of soldiers in Mesopotamia had been [failure to return].
But they had not been left to rest in the wilderness. Their limbs had been broken, and they had been dragged away alive to become food for the Magical Beasts.
"..."
The Uruk soldiers' expressions twisted as they imagined the horrific fate of their comrades.
More deeply than ever before, they understood just how evil the Magical Beasts were, and how utterly incompatible they were with humanity.
"Save your grief for later... Everyone, prepare to fight. It seems they have no intention of letting us leave easily."
Savage oni horns emerged from Tomoe Gozen's forehead as she tightened her grip on her naginata and bow.
Enkidu's lips curled upward as countless Ugallu emerged from the streets behind him.
...
The battle was exceptionally fierce.
The Ugallu Magical Beasts possessed power comparable to the Divine Beast Sphinx that Ritsuka Fujimaru and her companions had fought in the previous Singularity.
Although the Servants were barely able to withstand the Magical Beasts' attacks, the soldiers who had entered the city with them were rapidly falling. Blood stained the ancient city red.
The Magical Beasts were formidable, but Enkidu remained the greatest concern.
He hovered silently in the air. His refusal to join the battle only made him more suspicious.
Just as Tomoe Gozen prepared to shoot him with her bow, Enkidu moved.
The Divine Weapon's speed surpassed imagination. In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind one of the girls.
"My apologies, but she was my true target.
"I had my suspicions during our previous battle... Hmph. I never expected you to be hiding such a trump card."
"You are far more terrifying than Chaldea's Master. It's time for you to leave the stage...!"
Enkidu raised one hand, and dozens of chains shot toward Ana from every direction.
Even while fully focused on fighting the Magical Beasts, Ana sensed the surprise attack.
At the critical moment, she executed a flawless evasive maneuver, but one chain still pierced her abdomen.
"Ugh... Ah...!"
Blood poured from the wound, staining her black robe crimson.
"Ana...!"
The scythe-wielding girl hung suspended in midair, her body impaled by the chains and her face twisted in pain.
"This is bad! That wound could be fatal!"
Merlin sent a Magical Beast flying with a strike from his staff, then shouted at the white cub perched on Mash's shoulder.
"Hey, Cath Palug! Do something!"
Ana was essential to defeating the Goddess of Demonic Beasts. They could not allow her to be eliminated here.
"You've probably stored up plenty of Mana, haven't you? I won't be angry, so use as much as you need!"
Fou sprang into the air and landed beside Ana.
The girl's eyes widened. "Fou, what are you...?"
"Fou, fou!"
A gentle light radiated from the pure white cub's body.
In the next instant, Ana vanished, leaving behind only a bloodstained silver chain.
"...?"
Enkidu could hardly believe his eyes.
It was common knowledge that the Chains of Heaven possessed a special advantage against gods.
Ana might not look impressive, and her parameters were not particularly high, but she possessed the highest rank of Divinity, Goddess Core A, surpassing even the possessed goddess Ishtar.
She was a goddess who had not yet transformed into a monster.
Like her two elder sisters, she had been born into the world as the embodiment of male desire, a perfected [idol] and [ideal].
Someone like her should have been completely incapable of escaping the Chains of Heaven.
"What exactly is that little animal... Hm?"
A sudden earthquake interrupted Enkidu's thoughts.
The earth shook so violently that everything, Magical Beasts and humans alike, struggled to remain standing.
"W-what was that? Did Mount Ebih erupt? The Magical Beasts are running away!"
Everyone was bewildered by the sudden upheaval.
Only Enkidu understood the true nature of the earth's convulsions, powerful enough to send even the most vicious Magical Beasts fleeing in terror.
"Impossible. She came here herself!?"
Enkidu gritted his teeth. "This wasn't part of the plan. Just how impatient can she be...?"
However, from another perspective, Ana being forcibly removed from the battlefield had actually done him a favor.
"..."
The group stood frozen in shock, able only to watch as [that] burst from beneath the earth.
A vast fissure tore open, releasing suffocating waves of Mana.
The ancient streets were reduced to ruins in an instant, simply because the woman, or rather, the monster emerging from underground was far too enormous.
Ritsuka could not help recalling the monster movies she had watched before humanity was wiped out.
No matter how impressive their special effects had been, they could never compare to a real monster.
When the demonic beauty, more than a hundred meters long, appeared before her, Ritsuka's legs would not stop trembling.
The woman's hair consisted of countless jaws. Golden wings sprouted from her back, while her lower body was that of a colossal serpent.
A single sweep of her long, massive tail instantly annihilated the elite soldiers who had held the Magical Beasts at bay for so long.
"Archaman, analyze that thing immediately! As unbelievable as it sounds, that is also a Servant!"
Confronted with this unexpected enemy, Merlin shouted, "You should at least be able to identify its Spirit Origin, height, and Class!"
"I'm working on it! Its Spirit Origin is on the level of a Divine Spirit... Its body is more than thirty meters tall, and its total length, including the tail, exceeds one hundred and fifty meters!?"
The Chaldea control room descended into chaos.
"It belongs to an Extra Class! This is... a Divine Spirit Servant of the Avenger Class!"
"How noisy you humans are."
The woman's voice rumbled like the earth itself.
Just as humans paid no attention to the ants beneath their feet, she crushed the surrounding buildings and slithered toward the group, twisting her serpentine body.
"I am humanity's enemy, the leader of the [Three Goddess Alliance]."
"I am the monster you tremblingly call the Goddess of Demonic Beasts. Tiamat, Mother Goddess of All Beasts, has appeared before you."
"Should you not prostrate yourselves and offer your prayers?"
The goddess swept her gaze across the group with the contempt of a deity looking down upon insects.
There was no longer any room for doubt.
One glimpse of her overwhelming majesty was enough to convince anyone that she was the Goddess Tiamat of legend.
"Good afternoon, Mother. I'm glad to see you woke safely again today."
Enkidu rose into the air and flew to the Goddess of Demonic Beasts' side.
"But this differs slightly from the plan. Until the [Day of Rebirth] arrives, please take care of yourself."
"You were not supposed to appear at the North Wall for some time yet."
"Don't say that. I merely wanted to see my child's playmate."
"The survivor of Chaldea. Is that the insect still clinging to the Human Order and refusing to admit defeat?"
Contempt spread across the Goddess of Demonic Beasts' alluring features.
"How insignificant. What a frail and fragile life."
"How puzzling. How did a life like that manage to reach this place?"
"You are unpleasant to behold and not even worth strangling. Heh... But consider yourself fortunate. I am very hungry at the moment."
"Even a worthless little life should have some flavor."
"I wonder whether humanity's last Master will taste sweet or bitter."
Enkidu fell silent.
Had the others retained their usual composure, they might have noticed the anxiety in Enkidu's expression. He seemed desperate to prevent the Goddess of Demonic Beasts from coming into contact with Uruk.
Yet this was a perfect opportunity to eliminate Chaldea in one stroke. There had to be some hidden reason behind his behavior.
Unfortunately, everyone was overwhelmed by the Goddess of Demonic Beasts' presence. None of them could think clearly.
"G-Goddess Tiamat is looking down at us... My body... I can't move...!"
Mash's arms and legs felt fixed in place. She could only watch helplessly as the Goddess of Demonic Beasts' colossal body drew closer, ready to crush her.
It was not only the Shield Maiden and Tomoe Gozen. Even Merlin was breaking into a cold sweat.
"This is... troublesome. I can't move so much as a finger...!"
He was usually the one who used Illusion Arts to toy with his enemies. He had never imagined that he would one day suffer a similar fate.
"Is this paralysis caused by fear? Or some kind of evil eye?
"Even I can't take a single step... It's becoming difficult to breathe..."
"Why not try breathing through your gills, Professor?"
"What in the world are gills!? Though I hate to admit it, Merlin and Merman do sound remarkably similar... Hm!?"
Merlin looked up in surprise, following the voice.
High in the sky, standing on the golden prow of the Boat of Heaven Ma'anna, a red-haired boy was smiling.
"Shirou-san!"
"My Lord!"
The girls shouted almost simultaneously, hope reigniting in eyes that had been filled with despair.
"What...?"
The Goddess of Demonic Beasts followed their gazes and looked upward.
She did not realize that this was exactly what her opponent wanted.
The fierce sun blazed above them as noon approached. The instant the Goddess of Demonic Beasts raised her head, Shirou leaped from the Boat of Heaven.
He plummeted beneath the blazing sun like a falling star, gripping a greatsword so large that an ordinary human would need both hands to wield it.
The greatsword was plain in design. No matter how one looked at it, there was nothing remarkable about its appearance.
But Shirou knew exactly how extraordinary this sword truly was.
It had begun as nothing more than a piece of common iron. Through a lifetime of ceaseless swings, it had been steeped in the unwavering faith of a certain individual.
In the end, it had been honed into the Tombstone Sword, the very embodiment of the Abyssal Realm.
As Shirou fell from the sky, he tightened both hands around the black greatsword.
Then his eyes changed from gold to blue, shining with rainbow-colored light that seemed capable of swallowing the end of all things.
[Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] × [Azrael: The Angel That Announces Death].
At that moment, the degraded supreme Mystic Eyes recreated through Projection combined with that divine feat, allowing Shirou to reach an entirely new realm.
"!"
The red-haired boy swung his sword through empty space.
"...?"
Something seemed to have happened.
The Goddess of Demonic Beasts stared up at the boy, and her immense, voluptuous body trembled unexpectedly.
Shirou had struck nothing. He had simply swung his sword through the air.
And yet, an incomprehensible phenomenon had occurred.
Mash murmured in astonishment, "My body... I can move again...?"
"Ah! She's right! We're saved!"
Ritsuka tried moving her fingers and found that her once-rigid body had regained its freedom.
An overwhelming, absolute [End]. That was probably the only way to describe it.
Shirou had slain the goddess's [Gaze].
***
...
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