In the darkened space, hundreds of pale-purple magic circles, each barely ten centimeters wide, floated silently as they unleashed countless pinpoint beams of energy into the sky.
Amidst the unending barrage, several dozen ghostly blue souls darted frantically between beams, their translucent forms weaving desperately to evade the relentless assault.
Already at their limit just trying to dodge, many specters failed, dissolving instantly upon contact with the magical attacks. None had the capacity left to approach the source of the beams below, forced instead into desperate zigzagging escapes.
Meanwhile, below the spell arrays, another chaotic battle raged.
Ophis lightly dodged a skeleton's blade, drawing a golden sword from her treasury to parry another's blow. Two skeletal spearmen jumped from her flank, aiming downward strikes, but she nimbly leaped backward, forcing them away with several Noble Phantasms shot from her treasury.
Casually tossing the sword at one of the skeletons, Ophis extended both hands, firing twin magic cannons that intercepted energy attacks launched from the shadows, swallowing two skeletal mages in the process. She immediately floated backward again, narrowly evading beams converging from all directions.
Before she could pause, three more skeletons wielding bone swords surrounded her from three sides. Ophis frowned slightly, spinning gracefully past two attackers and cleaving the third cleanly in half with another newly drawn sword. Adjusting position to keep both remaining foes in front, she allowed one of them to knock her sword away while she leapt lightly backward.
The discarded Noble Phantasm flashed brilliantly midair, splitting into several meteor-like streaks that crushed the two skeletons into dust.
Without even a moment to breathe, hundreds of golden portals from Gate of Babylon opened behind Ophis, unleashing countless weapons toward another wave of charging skeletons.
But two skeletons bearing enormous bone shields sprinted forward, sacrificing themselves to intercept the weapons, shattering instantly into powder upon impact.
Meanwhile, skeletal warriors with swords and spears leapt high into the air, aiming to plunge downward onto Ophis.
"SWITCH."
Ophis waved her hand, briefly dismissing and then reopening the golden ripples behind her, instantly altering their configuration. The Gate of Babylon released another volley, lower in individual power but exponentially faster.
In mere moments, golden streaks completely overwhelmed the airborne skeletons.
She then swept her empty hand forward, generating a magical whirlwind barrier to deflect another wave of incoming energy bolts.
"DETECTED."
With a snap of her fingers, fresh magical circles manifested directly above the distant energy-attackers, promptly raining purple destruction upon them.
In Ophis's perception, the skeletal mages were now thoroughly annihilated.
Returning her gaze to the restless horde of warriors still surrounding her, Ophis narrowed her eyes slightly once more.
Gilgamesh, whom Ophis had replaced, was the original Heroic Spirit, the very first Hero-King, known not because he was truly the first hero ever, but because he was the first recorded hero—his epic was history's first hero saga.
In reality, countless heroes had achieved great deeds long before Gilgamesh, but their poor fortune had left them forgotten, forever denied a place in the Throne of Heroes.
Yet their legacies did not simply vanish.
These ancient Mesopotamian heroes had descended into Kur, where Ereshkigal harvested their skills and powers, creating the enemies Ophis faced now.
They were far weaker than their original selves, but their sheer overwhelming numbers still made for a troublesome fight.
Fortunately, the specters above were nearly wiped out, and the skeletal mages that controlled ambient mana with artifacts were gone as well, leaving these melee skeletons no longer a real threat.
[To manage things this far…you deserve praise, I suppose. Then how about this?]
Ereshkigal's voice echoed suddenly from every direction.
Responding instantly to their mistress's words, the ground surrounding Ophis rumbled violently.
"Rooooaar───"
Three massive skeletal dragons erupted from underground, somehow emitting deafening roars despite lacking vocal cords.
At the same time, the remaining skeleton warriors surged forward once again.
Ophis glanced up at the three bone dragons and smiled faintly, casually drawing another sword without unleashing additional weapons.
Instead, a single enormous golden ripple materialized behind her.
This golden portal appeared not vertically aimed at the enemy, but horizontally parallel to the ground, dozens of meters high in the air.
From within, a giant constructed from strange stone emerged, dropping heavily onto the battlefield.
Its landing caused an impact tremor rivaling the bone dragons' earlier entrance, shaking the enemy ranks and throwing them off balance.
Naturally unaffected by its own landing, the giant calmly reached into another golden portal beside it, withdrawing a suitably enormous sword.
"[IG-ALIMA]."
[W-wait! Hold up! This isn't fair—]
Ereshkigal's panicked voice, apparently forgetting her mic was still on, rang throughout Kur as the giant's blade effortlessly sliced all three skeletal dragons apart.
Of course, that was the only contribution the giant would get to make.
According to Ophis's calculations, Ereshkigal's reaction time was about… now—
Explosions erupted simultaneously around the giant, instantly reducing it to dust.
Having just shattered the last skeletal warrior, Ophis couldn't help but curl her lips disdainfully at the sight.
Such a petty goddess…
"Is the path clear now?"
Putting away her weapons, Ophis murmured softly.
[It seems you misunderstood something, O King of Uruk. I never said defeating all enemies was enough to pass this stage. This was intended as a test of wisdom. First, you must…wait. Actually, thinking it over, those boring old men always played these convoluted games. Perhaps we of the younger generation should start making some reforms around here. So let's skip the little games—I'll just open the gate right now. Hey, don't do anything rash!]
Shrugging slightly, Ophis returned Ea into storage and casually strode toward the newly formed spatial gate ahead.