Or, why don’t you find another savior?

Shiomi planned to jump back onto the back of the pterosaur in the sky and ride it to chase after it. However, the life form that attacked Jingu was not alone. Similar creatures were crawling out of the sea one after another, climbing up the cliff and besieging Shiomi.

Its bounce, speed, and strength were all more ferocious than any of the beasts and monsters that Xi Jian had known, and it seemed to have no idea of ​​fear, and it let out strange laughs one after another.

To them, Shiomi would follow in Jingu's footsteps and be slaughtered here.

The surface of these life forms is very hard. Shiomi is very glad that he is holding Gungnir in his hand. If it was the red spear given by his master, the effective lethality of each attack would be much lower.

Xijian was being pressed step by step and retreated little by little towards the land behind him. Jingu's figure had been blocked among the living beings and he could not see it at all.

The life form that took away the Holy Grail has already flown far away and cannot be caught up no matter what.

With one thrust that was too forceful, Gungnir pierced deeply through the torso of one of the life forms. The gun that should have been pulled out smoothly was entangled by the other party's suddenly softened tentacles, resulting in a brief tug of war.

He immediately changed his strategy and used Gungnir as a medium to release magic, but before the magic could be fully activated, other life forms had already pounced on him.

He freed his left hand and drew out the red spear, but missed, with the tip of the spear only grazing the torso of one of the beasts.

Just as he was hesitating whether to let go of Gungnir and was worried that this divine spear would be swallowed by these strange life forms, the "Wind King's Hammer" fell from the sky.

“Master——!”

Altria released the Wind King's barrier and tore apart the surrounding life forms.

Then came Quetzalcoatl and Ereshkigal.

"Where's Morgan?" Xijian asked.

"She took the others and retreated to Uruk using the Water Mirror." Artoria raised her sword. "The report from Chaldea said that a large number of unknown creatures have landed on the coast of the Persian Gulf!"

"Already seen it."

"Sorry, we misjudged the battle situation and should have killed the Gorgon a little later." Just by seeing these life forms, Artoria realized that the situation was too bad.

"That's not your fault or anyone else's. Our intelligence was insufficient to begin with." Shiomi worked with Altria and Quetzal. These life forms could no longer get within three meters of them. "The Holy Grail has been taken away. There's no point in staying here any longer."

"Retreat, right? I understand." Quetzal waved his hand, and the pterosaur hovered above and waited.

Altria nodded vigorously: "I understand, use the holy sword to destroy these monsters!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shiomi completed the rune magic. He slammed the ground heavily, and the rocks under his feet suddenly changed, pushing the monsters into a fan-shaped area.

"'Oath--'" Altria seized the opportunity and revealed the true name of the treasure, "'--Sword of Victory'!"

Groups of life forms were wiped out, and the continuous release of the Holy Lance and the Holy Sword in a short period of time consumed a huge amount of Artoria's magic power, and her feet suddenly softened.

Shiomi supported Altria's body and lifted her up by the waist.

"Thank you for your hard work," he whispered.

"I'll take a short break." Altria rested her head in Shiomi's arms, trying to recover magic power through her body as much as possible.

At this time, Shiomi looked at the traces left after the holy sword was released. Jingu fell on the edge of a rock, and his white robe had long been stained blood red.

When Shiomi was besieged, Kingo, who was fatally injured and had the Holy Grail taken away, was further ravaged by those life forms and only had his last breath left.

"The Holy Sword of the Stars...?" Jin Gu's mouth was bleeding, and it was hard to tell whether he was laughing or crying. "This kind of thing... Even if it can defeat these guys, it can't hurt my mother..."

"You are really loyal. Haven't you been betrayed by your mother?" Xi Jian raised his eyebrows.

"…It's those idiots…not Mother…"

As Jin Gu spoke, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Anything that was born in the correct human history... is no match for my mother..."

"Really?" Xi Jian's mind moved, but he didn't say what he was thinking. "The last question is, where is Gilgamesh? The king didn't return to Uruk at all."

But Jingu did not answer Shiomi because he had no way to answer Shiomi.

Jingu, who remained stubborn until his death, died on the coast just a stone's throw away from his "mother".

"You are so stubborn, you are similar to Enkidu in this respect." Ereshkigal stretched out his hand, and the soil wrapped around the body, slowly sinking. "After all, it is something that Gilgamesh asked me to keep, so I will bury it in the underworld first."

Chapter 57: The Primordial Sea

After dealing with the cluster on the coast, Shiomi took Artoria and Ereshkigal to the nearby observation station in the Persian Gulf, while Quetzal returned to Eridu first to confirm the situation there.

The observatory, which was busy not long ago, is now deserted. Outside the house and on the top of the tower are broken and tattered remains, and the inside of the house is in a mess.

Shiomi made contact with Chaldea here.

"It can be seen very clearly from the observatory that a red tide is gradually spreading in the distant sea area of ​​the Persian Gulf. There are also many life forms in the sea that are similar to the ones we just fought." Xi Jian frowned, looking at the sea that had not yet been dyed red. More life forms were gradually emerging in it, but they did not take immediate action.

Those are probably just born, and their senses are still relatively dull.

But it won't be long before it becomes as ferocious as the group of life forms just now.

"As for those mass-produced life forms, they will be named Rahmu for convenience." Romani said seriously, "Based on the current situation, the black mud that dyed the Persian Gulf red is probably the power of Tiamat - the 'Tide of Chaos'. No one, whether human or servant, can touch it."

Shiomi pursed her lips: "The power of Tiamat..."

"I've said it before. Neither you nor the Holy Lance Goddess can compare to my mother's power. Although you can reproduce life in the underworld, you still need to use your own blood as a medium." Ereshkigal reminded, "Your little bit of life power is different from my mother... the power of self-transformation, individual proliferation, and life fusion that the goddess Tiamat possesses."

"I know... Tiamat is the goddess of creation." Shiomi is not that arrogant.

Besides, I have always refused the possibility of ascending to the throne of God, so how dare I be compared with the Goddess of Origin.

"As I just said, the most powerful of Mother's life powers is Animo Geass. Once it is devoured by the black mud, it will be finished." Ereshkigal's expression was very serious. "No matter what kind of existence it is, it will eventually be corroded and become an enemy of mankind."

"And ever since the Holy Grail was taken away, the speed at which the black mud has been eroding the sea has been increasing rapidly by the minute." Romani added, "It won't be long before the Sheba Observation Mirror will be unable to grasp the specific situation. We can only rely on your strength over there."

"how much longer?"

"According to the judgment provided by Assistant Officer Gilgamesh, in three hours at most, the observatory you are in will be swallowed by the black mud, and the black sea will rise above the earth and eventually swallow up the entire Mesopotamia." Romani said, "This is a situation even more terrible than the Nabistim flood that swallowed up Mesopotamia in the past."

"Three hours..."

Shiomi grabbed the wall on the top of the observatory tower and looked into the depths of the sea.

The goddess Tiamat was there, but even with her magic power to enhance her vision to the extreme, she could not see anything.

"Besides..." Romani hesitated.

"what?"

"We have observed a huge spiritual reaction in the Persian Gulf. The total amount of magic power is higher than the sum of the seven holy grails. It is a super super super magic furnace core. So we speculate that it is the spiritual base of Tiamat, the origin monster that gave birth to the Mesopotamian civilization." Romani's tone became more and more nervous.

"In other words, if we can defeat Tiamat's true body, this black sea will disappear, right?" Xijian asked.

Ereshkigal was quite surprised: "Defeat the Mother?! Do you really know what you are talking about?"

"The Axe of Marduk is here. If I try again and risk my life, maybe I can kill the awakened Tiamat." Shiomi put his hand on his chest.

"But Master, your body has not recovered since the last time you used it--" said Altria.

"But this time, the goddess of the underworld and the goddess of the sun are on our side. After Quetzalcoatl returns from Eridu, we can board the pterosaur and prepare to head to the sea to stop the god Tiamat." Shiomi said, "Unless both of you do not intend to participate in this battle, then I will think of other ways."

Ereshkigal immediately denied it: "I, I didn't say I wouldn't help... Besides, if Mother really goes ashore and lets the Black Sea swallow up Mesopotamia and the civilization here, the foundation of humanity will definitely be destroyed!"

In other words, she had no way, let alone the possibility, of sitting idly by and watching such a thing.

"Then it's confirmed. Later I will lead Artoria and the two goddesses to try to stop Tiamat—"

Before he finished speaking, Morgan, who was in Uruk, suddenly intervened in the communication:

"If so, I will come right away."

"No." It was rare that Xi Jian simply rejected Morgan.

"My husband, you are planning to take the risk alone. Do you think we can be safe if you leave me behind?" Morgan asked with a little dissatisfaction.

Shiomi took a deep breath and said, "An attack at sea is a risky operation. Considering that the success rate may not be too high, we will retreat immediately once we are sure that we cannot succeed. By then, your uniqueness may become a trump card against Tiamat. Please start accumulating strength immediately and prepare for that moment."

His words surprised everyone else. No one expected Xi Jian to say that, and to believe it so firmly.

But before anyone else could ask, Morgan smiled knowingly:

"Is that so... I guess that's what you're planning. Then I'll follow my husband's instructions and defend Uruk with the others. But -"

"but?"

"Let Scathach go. If someone is needed to leave and die, let the woman who cannot die go." Morgan said as if jokingly, and then added seriously: "This is her own request, and she has already set off."

This made Shiomi, who was originally trying to dissuade him, stop trying.

He felt a little melancholy.

Whether it was Morgan, the master, or Altria, they rarely disagreed with him.

But at the same time, they all have very strong opinions and will not listen to Shiomi and hide in a safe place just because he feels dangerous.

Unless... he could come up with another plan that would convince them, as he had just told Morgan.

"Master." Artoria held his hand.

"We still have some time before we meet up with Quetzal, so let's go and rest first. I haven't fully recovered yet, and Altria has used her Noble Phantasm twice in a short period of time." Shiomi Ereshkigal said, "So I'll leave the job of monitoring the situation in the Persian Gulf to you."

"Don't sleep too deeply, or I won't have time to wake you up." Ereshkigal didn't think too much about it.

Afterwards, Shiomi grabbed Altria's hand and disappeared into the observatory together.

Chapter 58: Tiamat

Half an hour later, Shiomi and his companions set out from the observation station in the Persian Gulf. They boarded the pterosaurs summoned by Quetzal Coatl and flew over the Persian Gulf.

The sky towards the land was still clear, but the sea was already covered with dark clouds.

There were a large number of magical beasts and Lahmu flying over the sea. Ximi and the others fought while breaking through this barrier and headed for the source of the spiritual reaction on the sea, which was where Tiamat was.

During the flight, looking down from the pterosaur's back, there were tens of thousands of Lahmu emerging from the ocean.

However, these newly born Lahmu did not react at all to Xi Jian and the others. According to Quetzal, these monsters have not yet formed specific perception abilities and only know simple concepts such as landing on land and killing old humans.

However, soon, these Lahms will share consciousness with other individuals and grow to the same level as the Lahms who backstabbed King Kong and stole the Holy Grail.

Quetzal was very unhappy about this.

This planet has finally given birth to gods who are able to bring out their individual strengths, but now they want to return to the group. As a goddess, she is the first to disagree.

Suddenly, a sound that sounded like a singing but wasn't a singing came from the sea.

“Aaaa——————”

The one who made this sound was a goddess floating above the sea. She was extremely beautiful and extremely sad.

"That's... Tiamat?" Xijian couldn't believe it. He couldn't immediately associate the other party with the mother of Warcraft.

Ereshkigal was also a little surprised: "Yes, yes, I haven't seen my mother either. But those horns that symbolize the earth, and those eyes that reflect the inner sea of ​​stars... It must be the Goddess of Creation Tiamat!"

"Are you sure?" Xijian asked.

“Whether it was me or Ishtar, when we were born, the goddess Tiamat had already been abandoned as a womb after the creation of the world and turned into the soil that nurtures life,” said Ereshkigal.

At this time, Artoria said: "In mythology, the goddess Tiamat was killed by the gods, and Marduk's hand axe was the weapon that cut the throat of the mother goddess."

"I'm afraid there is a deviation between myth and fact." Scathach, who had come to join them, said at this time, "According to Ereshkigal, the goddess Tiamat was abandoned by the entire world, or the children she gave birth to."

"That's right. When the planet was settled, Mother was abandoned as useless." Ereshkigal nodded in confirmation, "And it was not the old world exiled under the Fabric, but an imaginary world without life."

"The Sea of ​​Imaginary Numbers?" Xi Jian was stunned, but he could understand.

The imaginary world is wider than the world itself. It has no clear coordinates or navigation methods. It is a realm of nothingness that cannot be easily accessed in the real world.

"...Yes. For the primates who have obtained the tree of life system, she is too dangerous because she may give birth to the 'next world'." Quetzal said, "It's like mixing the next foundation into the foundation that has been built with great difficulty, so..."

Shiomi lowered her eyes, "So the gods... or maybe humans sealed her away?"

Then, now that the goddess Tiamat has returned from the Sea of ​​Illusory Numbers, it no longer matters whether it was the Magic King who awakened her or human reason that called her here.

As far as human history is concerned, Tiamat is a being that should not exist on this planet.

"Master, when I said goodbye to you, I didn't have time to tell you one thing, that is, in this singularity, there may be "evil" that you can't imagine." Altria stared at Tiamat and spoke slowly, "Now I can assert that this great demon who is far above the Magic King, the origin of our human sin, is the god Tiamat."

"evil?"

Shiomi, who was riding the pterosaur with Altria, turned back slightly and asked in confusion.

"It's different from evil in the general sense. It's 'human evil.'" Altria nodded.

Shiomi realized that this topic was going to get complicated, so he just accepted the answer as it was, quickly turning his gaze to Tiamat to observe the other's condition.

"...Wait a minute, Tiamat's hands and horns...are bound by chains?" His eyes widened. "Am I seeing things?"

"No, you're not mistaken." Scathach nodded.