"Damn it… damn it… damn it…"
In the Underworld, Ereshkigal gnawed at her nails, jittery with frustration.
She was dressed in a black gown now, her Underworld spear fully unfolded (limit fully released), and the pressure rolling off her dwarfed even what she'd shown when she fought Ophis.
Countless bolts of violet lightning burst from every corner of space, hammering Tiamat again and again.
Every second, heat rivaling Ishtar's Noble Phantasm scorched the Mother Goddess of Creation.
"In this Underworld, even my idiot little sister who struts around up in the sky can only serve as a combat yardstick… but…"
Ereshkigal rubbed at her temples as she watched Tiamat—now fully formed, on all fours, less human than a feral beast—and the chaotic tide that was still corroding the Underworld.
She'd known Mother was strong. She just hadn't expected her to be this stubborn. Even the Authority of the Underworld couldn't deal a fatal wound—if anything, every time Tiamat recovered, she came back even stronger.
And Ereshkigal could feel it: because of the chaotic tide, her control over the Underworld was weakening by the moment.
Even so…
"I said I'd seal her soul in the Underworld! Even if it's Mother, stealing my prey is unforgivable!"
Countless blood-red Spears of the Underworld fell like rain, stabbing into Tiamat.
"Right now, Tiamat is fully Beast II! We absolutely cannot let her return to the surface—she'll destroy the world completely! She won't even need a day to cover the entire planet in black mud!"
On the other side, Dr. Romani spoke in a panic.
"Even if you say that, Doctor…"
Ritsuka looked like she had a headache too. Just holding off the chaotic tide and Lahmu was already taking everything they had—forget fighting Tiamat head-on.
"The chaotic tide and Lahmu that come from Tiamat's own Authority aren't lifeforms. In the Underworld, we can defeat them completely!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know…"
Ritsuka clicked her tongue, then glanced at her Servants.
Mash couldn't do anything but protect her—no way to expect her to wade in, and no way to expect her to bash Tiamat to death with a shield.
Beside them was Altera, left behind by Ophis… and according to her, there was still a source of mana supplying her body. But it had grown very faint, so to conserve power for Tiamat, she could only limit how often she acted.
"[RHONGOMYNIAD]!"
Riding a white horse, Lily descended as a pillar of light from the sky, slamming into Tiamat—only to deal little damage, and she was already panting hard.
Lily wasn't used to wielding a lance to begin with, and in a situation like this, a knight's lance really didn't have room to shine.
You couldn't exactly expect to skewer a creator god with a charge.
"Aaaaaaaa—!"
Tiamat whipped her tail, smashing Lily into the ground. With every disadvantage piling up, despair began to creep into everyone's hearts.
"This is—?!" Dr. Romani blurted.
Flowers spread over the black mud.
"These… the flowers are draining Tiamat's power?"
Dr. Romani shouted in disbelief.
"Sorry, sorry. Something came up, so I'm a bit late."
Merlin had appeared in the Underworld at some point, standing in the center of a sea of blossoms, smiling lightly at Lily where she'd fallen aside.
"So, King Arthur—would you prefer the holy scabbard in my left hand that can protect everything? Or the holy sword in my right that guarantees victory… pweh?!"
"We don't have time for jokes, Sir Merlin. Prepare for battle at once."
Lily thrust the scabbard, Avalon, straight into her body, then raised the Sword of Promised Victory and set her stance, eyes fixed on Tiamat.
"How cruel… I went out of my way to recover both sword and scabbard for you, you know. And I ran all the way from Avalon to get here. I don't like sad farewells, so I bent my principles a little and sprinted right out of my tower of confinement to see you."
Merlin clutched his stomach and pushed himself up with a wry smile.
"And besides—against an enemy that can shatter a star, you really do need the planet's holy sword."
"Now's not the time! Lady Tiamat is about to take flight! At this rate, she'll make it back to the surface!"
Dr. Romani sounded frantic enough to cut off even his idol without hesitation.
Watching Tiamat's wings—previously ruined by the two goddesses' interference—restore themselves, Merlin smiled.
"Indeed. The binding of the Chains of Heaven, the goddesses' obstruction, the means of Heroic Spirits… we've come this far. We can't let it all be for nothing. So… let someone else complete this final piece of the puzzle."
"THE STRONGEST ASSASSIN WHO ABANDONED THE TITLE OF GRAND!"
A figure in all black, wearing a bone mask, was carving through eleven monsters that looked absurdly formidable, while Tiamat—enduring the light of Excalibur and the Sword of the War God—blasted Merlin into the ground.
That was the first thing Ophis saw when she finally revived and returned, thanks to merging with Inori—she then casually picked up the Holy Grail that had dropped after Enkidu died, and jumped into the Underworld.
Wait—Merlin's alive again?
She shoved the question aside and saw Ereshkigal trying to share the Authority of the Underworld with Ritsuka and the others.
…That should be violating a god's rules.
None of them could ever make it easy, could they…
Honestly, Ophis had hoped that after she came back, everything would already be over. If possible, she would've preferred to just wait for the end—she wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed trouble.
That was how it was supposed to go…
But now it looked like she had no choice. If she didn't act, Ereshkigal really might get herself killed pushing it like this.
And besides…
This was kind of exciting.
What Ophis had been wary of was simply Tiamat's "can't be killed" trait. But now, not only was Tiamat suppressed in the Underworld, even that immortality felt sharply weakened. Ophis's Infinity had fully recovered with her revival, too—and she didn't need to externalize it to protect any particular place.
She didn't even know how she was supposed to lose.
"Hey—hey! Think this through! Are you seriously going to do that?"
Over on Ereshkigal's side, Ishtar—reduced to being a spectator because she was out of mana—was trying to talk her sister down.
"Shut up. You're the one who goes limp after firing one shot—if you're out of juice, then get lost already!"
"You—"
Ishtar bared her teeth, about to snap back—then she froze.
Most of the battlefield froze with her, staring above Tiamat.
The world's pattern drew in on itself, converging—then sinking into a golden sphere.
"Ophis?"
With Ea, Sword of Rupture drawn, Ophis looked down at Tiamat. The three cylindrical blades of rupture spun at high speed, and the winds they cast off made the Underworld's space crack with a strained, breaking scream.
"King Ophis! You're okay?!"
Mash cried out in relief, but down below, Ereshkigal had a very bad feeling.
Especially when she saw the fractures spreading through the Underworld's space.
"We've come this far. I can't keep standing by… even if I have to blow the Underworld apart, I have to avoid death."
"You're already doing that, so stop it!!!"
Ignoring Ereshkigal's collapsing shriek, Ophis raised Ea, Sword of Rupture high overhead.
It was almost funny. Ophis—who liked simple, brutal fights more than anything—had, for all sorts of reasons, never once truly unleashed the full might of this Noble Phantasm: a ready-made beam of light, and her strongest attack of the past.
After reviving, she'd even gained a method that didn't lose to Ea—something she could wield directly herself. And even so…
This battle would end with rupture.
Ophis had never been able to fully command Ea. With endless mana, she could amplify its output to a level far beyond Gilgamesh's with ease—but when it came to conversion efficiency, she had been nowhere close to him.
Now, Ophis understood why.
"Goddess Tiamat—humanity bears you no hatred. But no matter how boundless a child's love may be, there comes a day when they must leave their mother…"
In Ophis's eyes, Tiamat had always been simply Tiamat.
Evil of Humanity. Beast. None of it mattered.
The Mother Goddess raised the world from chaos and, in doing so, gave humankind its beginning.
And yet, so long as she endured, humankind would be doomed to destruction.
So Tiamat had to vanish.
To split HEAVEN (gods) from EARTH (humans), and carve open humanity's FUTURE.
"The world no longer needs its foundation. This time… please rest."
Ophis smiled faintly and spoke the words of release.
"[ENUMA ELISH]!"
THE STAR OF CREATION THAT SPLIT HEAVEN AND EARTH
In the next instant, heaven and earth were divided anew.