Even by the end, Ophis still couldn't quite understand why that goddess had sought her out.
Had she simply noticed Ophis in passing and stopped by?
Still, thanks to that meeting, she'd gained a great deal of new intel.
The enemy's objective—and this "Mage King."
[Mage King, huh… Among the few historical kings famed for magecraft, only one could pull off something like this. It has to be Solomon.]
"Solomon…"
Ophis had ended Mesopotamia's Age of Gods, but from a global perspective, she had merely severed humanity's link to the gods a bit earlier than most. The Age of Gods had waned, but it hadn't truly ended.
Solomon was the true last king of that age.
He held the omnipotent ring and never used it. In the end, he willingly returned it to Heaven—not to deliver the Almighty's will, but to declare the coming of an era where humanity would live by human will alone.
If the Hero King began the decline of the Age of Gods, then Solomon formally ended it, becoming the true King of Humanity who ushered in the age of man.
[But would someone like him really try to destroy humanity? Maybe he just got… bored?]
"Who knows?"
Even after identifying the mastermind, Ophis felt little stir within her.
"Either way, he's not the immediate threat."
Her immediate enemies were the goddesses. Knowing who sat behind the curtain didn't mean she could abandon Uruk's defense and charge off to fight him now.
"The goddess in the north, the goddess in the south, and Ereshkigal. Of them, Ereshkigal's damage is the smallest, limited to Kutha. The southern goddess likely wiped out the southern cities—Enridu and Ur included."
[But the northern goddess's destruction is on an entirely different scale. Her demonic beasts swept the whole north.]
"And her goal is domination of the land itself."
[Oh? Is that what the goddess of the Underworld said?]
"Which means she has no use for the humans living on it."
[Hmm… then she's genuinely anti-human.]
"Then we deal with her first."
While they spoke, Ophis had already flown back into Uruk's pyramid-shaped temple.
By then, dawn had broken.
"Yo, good morning, Ophis."
Merlin waved lazily from a distance as he approached.
…Does this guy seriously never have anything to do?
"About the barrier earlier—"
"Perfect timing, Ophis. I just finished patching it. For safety, I even had Heracles pound on it a few times. Results? Rock solid!"
…I really want to kill this guy.
"Come with me."
Swallowing the urge to boot Merlin out, Ophis led him into the throne room.
"Merlin, how far does your Clairvoyance reach in this era?"
"Oh? Straight to business, as expected of our king."
Merlin nodded.
"Honestly? Not very far. Anything in the 'present' is within view. But goddesses have their own rules. Peek at them, and they'll notice instantly—and probably bombard me with Authorities and Noble Phantasms. I imagine you'd react similarly if someone tried to spy on you, yes?"
Indeed. Ophis wouldn't respond so dramatically, but she'd detect it at once.
Tapping her index finger on the throne's armrest, Ophis spoke again.
"So you don't actually have much on the goddesses either?"
"Exactly. I did glimpse something massive during my summoning, but I know little about the goddesses themselves. The townsfolk, however, seem to be spreading rumors."
"I'll check those later. For now, here's new information…"
Ophis relayed the key intel she'd gleaned from Ereshkigal about the Three-Goddess Alliance.
"Ohhh, impressive as always, Ophis. You managed to gather quite a haul in no time."
"So, about what you were—"
"Pardon the interruption, my King. May I enter?"
Siduri's voice carried from beyond the mechanism, cutting in neatly.
Work time. Siduri was punctual to the second…
"Enter."
Ophis paused half a beat, then sighed and granted permission.
Siduri stepped in at once, followed by a small procession of soldiers laden with stone tablets.
…There had to be at least fifty of them!
Suppressing another sigh, Ophis spoke first.
"Siduri, status of the city wall?"
"Yes. The wall is nearly complete and already provides sufficient defense. Also, according to the latest battle reports, the demonic beasts' offensive has clearly weakened. It seems even they have limits."
"Hm. Even if a certain goddess can mass-produce beasts with her Authority, she can't maintain efficiency forever. Throwing them into the grinder nonstop will take its toll."
After hearing Siduri's report, Merlin offered his view.
"In fact, the continuous attacks these past days were unusual. Not many gods can sustain that rate of consumption."
"So they planned to commit everything at once and break humanity's defenses—only to get bogged down instead?"
After a short think, Ophis grasped the enemy commander's intent.
Gods naturally underestimated humans, and the beasts they made tended to inherit that flaw. Misreading humanity's resilience was common.
"However, the front line should be nearing its limit, yes?"
"Yes… Lady Jeanne is barely holding morale, and Lady Altera and Lord Arjuna have greatly eased the pressure on the troops."
"Have them begin a withdrawal behind the city walls. Mobilize reserves. Meet any needs they have—even using Merlin as bait if necessary."
"Hmm… Is it my imagination, or did our usually kind Ophis just say something awfully cruel?"
"Understood, my King. I'll dispatch orders immediately."
"Hey, hey, Siduri, are we just ignoring how outrageous that order was?!"
"I'm counting on you, Merlin."
Watching Ophis raise a tiny fist in chipper encouragement, Merlin let out a rare, bitter laugh.
"Seems I have no choice. The man who prefers observing from afar… doing overtime. As your Court Magician, I can't refuse. Leave holding back the demonic beasts to me."
With a resigned smile, Merlin casually declared that he alone would stand against them all.