"Eh—!?"
Hand slapped away, Ishtar-Rin stiffened slightly—not only because her hidden intentions were exposed, but because she truly was scared.
Did she just get…rejected?
"It's alright." Surprisingly, Rovi didn't pull away as she'd expected. Instead, he leaned down slightly, gently stroking the goddess's head. Silky black hair slid softly between his fingers as he spoke calmly, "No matter who or what comes, they won't break past the barrier I create."
"Don't forget—I'm the Key that splits apart Heaven and Earth."
With those words, Rovi straightened, turned, and walked toward Tiamat.
The tides surged, pale waves tumbling restlessly.
Gilgamesh's wild laughter and Enkidu's cool, serene expression stood on either side as Rovi stepped forward.
Ishtar-Rin…remained frozen on the spot.
Wait a second…Did he just pet my head?
"Uuu…" The black-haired goddess flushed, instinctively placing both hands atop her head. The warmth from her fingertips touching her hair brought back that fleeting sensation.
Warm…and oddly reassuring…
"Is this how Eresh fell, too?" Ishtar-Rin murmured softly, groaning inwardly yet unable to suppress the fluttering within her heart.
But now that she thought about it…
"Why do I feel like a daughter being comforted by her father?"
Wait, is it really just a feeling?
A strange realization dawned upon Ishtar-Rin.
Exactly—
Rovi's attitude just now clearly conveyed: Oh, my troublesome child, why can't you behave?
Ishtar-Rin: "…"
Give me back my fluttering heart, damn it!!!
"Finally calmed down, have you?"
Stepping across ground already transforming into flows of black-and-red lava, Rovi paused briefly, glancing back at Ishtar-Rin's simultaneously flustered and infatuated expression, laughing quietly.
Well, she counted as a comrade-in-arms, after all…
He shifted his gaze forward again.
"Aaaaaa!"
That clear voice still resonated across the world.
Tiamat stood calmly at the ocean shore, her water-like hair dancing freely, enormous horns casting mountain-like shadows.
Since arriving, she hadn't moved.
Not because of Gilgamesh and Enkidu's attacks—even though they'd grown tremendously powerful, each approaching near the strength of major gods, without Rovi, their combined efforts were still insufficient to cause even a ripple in the Primordial Mother Goddess's presence.
The reason Tiamat didn't move was simply because she didn't want to.
She was merely waiting—watching Rovi closely.
And now, as Rovi approached and stood before the Primordial Mother, he raised his head to meet her gaze.
"…Come…with me. They…will hurt you—"
Just as they did to me.
Rovi understood Tiamat's intention clearly.
Those enormous, glittering eyes gazing down upon him undoubtedly conveyed exactly that meaning.
And finally, he understood—
The Tiamat standing before him was treating him as one of her own—a fellow primordial god lingering within this world.
In a certain sense, she wasn't wrong. Having merged completely with Ea, he now embodied a faint but authentic trace of primordial authority.
As one who once presided over the Pantheon's rituals, Rovi deeply understood the mythology of this world.
He knew that in this so-called "Type-Moon" world, many myths differed from those he first knew. Here, Tiamat appeared after the god Ia and never had companions. She emerged as the incarnation of the planet's primordial ocean—the first sea that nurtured all things.
Before her, Ia had vanished; after her, all gods were merely her offspring, created personally by her.
Thus, Tiamat had never known true companionship.
She had never encountered a being equal to herself.
Before her betrayal and exile, she had simply been a loving Mother Goddess—nothing more.
But now, from Rovi, she sensed something similar to herself—a presence born from the planet's primal existence, like her own.
Naturally, she viewed him as the companion she'd never had.
Joyful and eager to draw close.
Yet this did not mean that Tiamat intended to spare humanity on this land.
The desire in her eyes to annihilate civilization had not lessened in the slightest.
Then—
The time of my death is near anyway. Bringing it forward slightly…won't hurt.
Rovi smiled faintly and raised his hand.
Brilliant, shimmering light surfaced in his palm, crimson circuits spreading swiftly across his body.
Rovi—manifested Ea, the Sword of Rupture.
"Aaaaa!"
Tiamat's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Rovi—! You mongrel, are you planning to usurp this king's authority yet again!?" Gilgamesh, soaring overhead aboard Vimana and opening the Gate of Babylon, widened his eyes and couldn't help shouting angrily.
"Rovi—your body won't be able to endure this!" En's voice also rang out in alarm.
But Rovi merely shook his head, facing Tiamat who stood unmoving before him.
"I won't die," he simply said.
"And I won't go with you."
He spoke again firmly.
"Aaaaaa—" Confusion now tinged Tiamat's clear voice, as if gently asking…Why?
Why?
"Because I'm Uruk's Sage," Rovi answered calmly. "Because I don't fear death—and because I trust that I won't be betrayed."
Crimson brilliance continued to expand outward, Ea fully revealing its authority to cleave apart Heaven and Earth.
In that instant, dazzling radiance surged skyward.
...
"Rovi…" Ishtar-Rin stood in stunned silence.
From the Netherworld, Eresh also looked upward, captivated by that radiant pillar of light.
"Is that…the Sage?"
Within Uruk, someone stood by their window, eyes reflecting the shining sky above.
Someone subconsciously stepped outside, gazing upward.
People instinctively began gathering.
Just like that day, when they'd opposed the gods—
A spark ignited again within every heart.
All people raised their eyes toward the sky.
Looking up toward the Sage who'd brought them wisdom—
...
Rovi smiled openly.
He reached out, grasping the sword that descended gently amid the fading light.
Holding it tightly, then raising it upward.
Amidst a cascade of brilliance, a torrent surged forth violently.
In this moment, the opener of Heaven and Earth grasped the very instrument that parted creation itself.
Opening Heaven and Earth meant more than splitting apart primal chaos—it also meant removing the ignorance and shadows from humanity's hearts, awakening the wisdom lying within.
This was—
The power that shattered all barriers.
The eternal, singular light that all humanity longed for!
"[ENUMA ELISH—THE STAR OF CREATION THAT SPLIT HEAVEN AND EARTH]!"
A crimson, surging tempest exploded forth in an instant!
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T/N: 4 chapters since i was gonna update yesterday but didnt, bonus chaps are tomorrow and uhhh no character note for thisweek
heres my patreon (patreon.com/wisetl) and heres the powerstone rewardsss Every 100 Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter. 100ps = 1 chp 200ps = 2 chp 300ps = 3 chp etc. uhhh for legal matters, my patreon is only there if you wanna support me yep yep with the added bonus of reading ahead OH OH also heres the discord link discord.gg/wisetl