The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

Tiamat didn't need the Holy Grail. Now, under the powerful effects of the Pass, she was no longer a Servant. The Holy Grail was just a nice-looking toy to her. However, to prevent the Chaldean magicians from escaping the singularity after retrieving it, Tiamat kept it close to her. As for how the Holy Grail was retrieved from Enkidu, Tiamat didn't care.

She used to dote on her children, even turning a blind eye to the rebellion they started; but now she hated every creature in this world equally...

【AAAAAAAA】

Tiamat stood atop the Black Tide, letting the waves push her slowly forward. She had no attachment to this world, only to quickly end this farce and leave with Koya to begin a new life in another world. Tiamat accepted the Holy Grail from Lahmu. As the Grail left her body, the winged Lahmu turned to ash. Tiamat ignored this scene, casually placing the Grail on her body and continuing to chant a simple ballad.

[Hmm~ After all, it's best not to have children. Children are troublesome!]

·Dividing line·

The civilians of Eridu and Uruk were safely transported to the northern front by the Leopard People, while Koya, Ishtar, Quetzal, and Siduri returned to Uruk.

Unlike when they left, three hundred and sixty giant bows have been erected on the walls of Uruk. These huge bow and arrow turrets are all imitations of the sword of death, Enki. They don't have names or can be called EK. The expressions on Fujimaru Tachibana's faces when she and the other soldiers pulled these three hundred turrets out of the underground warehouse of the workshop were quite interesting. Perhaps if it weren't for the alliance of the three goddesses Tiamat, Gilgamesh could have solved it alone.

These 360 artillery batteries were connected to the temple, all powered by magic provided by Gilgamesh. Even with the blessing of the Great Cup of Uruk, he could only fire continuously for one day at most. Thanks to the fact that Koya's divine domain had always covered Uruk, Gilgamesh did not need to mobilize precious magic power to attack Lahmu.

In the sacred tower, the group reunited. Tachibana and the others were quite surprised by Siduri's return, and even Gilgamesh's expression relaxed for a moment.

"Has the Holy Grail fallen into Tiamat's hands? Well, that's to be expected. Now, let me share some information from the Persian Gulf Observatory. Tiamat has awakened in the center of the Indian Ocean and is now heading towards the Persian Gulf. The blackened waters are a derivative of Tiamat's power. They corrode any living organisms that come into contact with them, attaching their power to them and transforming them into Lahmu. Servants must not touch the sea. Even Servants cannot withstand Tiamat's erosion."

"Mother Goddess... Tiamat's powers include self-transformation, individual multiplication, and biological fusion. Her most powerful power is control. All creatures created by Tiamat become her warriors. I wasn't even born when the gods attacked Tiamat, but my father once said that four-fifths of the gods were killed or wounded in the war against Tiamat, and three-fifths of those four-fifths were due to transformation and defection. So don't think you can rest easy just because you're a god. Once you get involved with that black stuff, you're doomed."

"Well, secondly, the water level in the Persian Gulf is rising rapidly. In about two hours, the observatory will sink into the sea. Then we will face a flood more dangerous than the Mesopotamian flood. All life swept by the black tide will become our enemy, and by then Mesopotamia will be completely wiped out. Fujimaru Tachibana, do you know what this means—"

"The foundations of urban society... the foundations of all European nations will disappear. Then human reason will cease to exist, and humanity will be completely destroyed. I will not let that happen, absolutely not!"

"Then it's clear what we must do—defeat Tiamat and save the world!"

"Yes!"

Tiamat was about to enter the Persian Gulf. Initially, Gilgamesh and his men considered sending Tiamat to Uruk for the battle. Uruk was well-equipped, with Quetzal's temple located near the ziggurat of Gilgamesh, making it the most likely location for defeating Tiamat. However, they ultimately decided to conduct a trial attack on Tiamat in the Persian Gulf. Success would be best, but Uruk offered a safeguard if failure occurred.

Five hours later—

"Tiamat's spiritual power has already appeared in the Persian Gulf. Its magical power surpasses even the combined power of the seven Holy Grails. She is an extremely formidable foe. Fujimaru Rikka asks you one last time: Are you truly prepared to become her enemy?"

"Yes."

"Tiamat is completely different from the demons you defeated in the past. They cannot be compared at all. Even so, are you prepared?"

"Yes! Even so, I will do my best! That's why I came here!"

At this moment, on a high mountain outside the Persian Gulf, Fujimaru Tachibana was talking with Gilgamesh. Beside her, Koya, Quetzal, Ishtar, Merlin, and Anna were all there. It could be said that all the fighting forces that Uruk could mobilize were here except for Elle who was digging a hole in the underworld. While Fujimaru Tachibana was talking with Gilgamesh, Merlin quietly released an illusion to cover him and Koya.

"How much effort will the god Tiamat provide?"

"At most 50%. She also deliberately degraded those of Rahm, and she promised that she wouldn't harm us. Don't worry."

"No, there's no way I can be at peace! That's Tiamat! Even if she doesn't want to harm us, if she randomly uses a skill that affects us, we won't be able to withstand it, right?"

"Well, just be careful, but you can rest assured about Fujimaru Tachibana's safety. Even if she's shattered into pieces, Tiamat can still bring her back to life. Perhaps the Fujimaru Tachibana born from the black mud will be even stronger, capable of tearing apart a Heroic Spirit with her bare hands."

"Forget it, let's not do anything risky. By the way, how is this scene going to end?"

"It ends in the underworld."

Elsewhere, Gilgamesh's conversation with Tachibana ended as Tiamat's presence became visible. Her massive form, and the countless Lahm beneath her, brought the conversation to a halt. Tiamat stood atop the Black Tide, gazing at the land of Uruk with a mixture of hatred and anticipation. She had, of course, spotted Koya and understood that this was where the drama was about to begin.

In fact, she also wanted to see whether the humans of this era really had the ability to expel her——

"Then prepare yourself, Fujimaru Tachibana. You are facing the primordial beast, the god Tiamat, the source of all the demonic beasts that threaten human history!"

【AAAAAAAAAA】

The siren's beautiful song reached the ears of everyone present. No one understood the meaning of this single-syllable chant, but everyone knew one thing: Tiamat was close at hand. Tiamat was enormous, estimated to be nearly a hundred meters tall, looking like a giant. Even brandishing a weapon in her presence required immense courage.

"Ms. Ishtar! Stop hiding it now! Send out your Bull of Heaven, Gugalan!"

"Eh??"

Ishtar didn't expect that this would be the first sentence Fujimaru Rikka said to them, but it was normal. If she really had Gugalana, it could indeed be a useful weapon against Tiamat, but - but Gugalana was lost!

"Um, actually, well!! Seriously, I lost Gugalana. I can't find it!"

"Ah? I see! Then everyone, prepare your Noble Phantasms. How can we aim at her from this spot? Merlin, quickly buff everyone. At least let us snipe her once to test our skills."

"Hey, hey~ Well, hero made~~ Oops, I bit my tongue again."

"My Noble Phantasm may not be able to reach that far, but I can try to use my Mystic Eyes—"

"In the name of the Command Spell!"

Abundant magic power gathered on Ishtar and Quetzal. The main force of this exploratory attack was these two goddesses of Venus. They had a high compatibility and using their powers together might be able to recreate a corner of the myth. Although Gugalana was gone, Ishtar's own output ability should not be underestimated.

With the support of sufficient magic power, the goddess' eyes have been dyed golden, which is a manifestation of her full divinity. As the magic power continues to rise, the starry sky unfolds above her head, and the twinkling stars and the huge Venus replace the sky. At this moment, Quetzal also chuckled, and she took the lead in attacking Tiamat.

Under the blessing of the starry sky and Venus, flames that seemed to vaporize the ocean began to rise, blanketing the Persian Gulf and the mountain range where Coya and his companions stood. Legend has it that when Quetzalcoatl left the Aztecs, he burned his palace to the ground to prevent the loss of his vast treasures to the evil god Tezcatlipoca. This legend became her Noble Phantasm. Though she preferred to use her body to direct the flames into her enemies, a Noble Phantasm was no inconvenience!

The flames in the sky spread in the direction of Tiamat, and Lahmu on the sea was directly burned. The rising sea level seemed to be suppressed by the flames. The magical power of Fujimaru Tachibana's Command Spell, the Temple of the Sun in Uruk, and the huge Venus in the sky made the flames rise against the wind!

"The blazing flames also burn up the gods!"

Quetzal's flames are not her main attack, her goal is to seal - yes, the most important function of this scorching sun fire is not burning, because it is said that Quetzal's treasure is endowed with the ability to seal treasures. With the blessing of three parties, this flame is even similar to Coya's divine domain. It will turn the magic power in the atmosphere and the magic power in the enemy's body into firewood, burning more violently!

【AAAAAAAA】

"Mother Goddess, let me show you my power!"

The curtain of the starry sky was drawn, and the huge Venus gathered into a dazzling ball of light and came into Ishtar's hands. She looked at the planet in her hand with burning eyes, her eyes full of confidence. Even if it was the Mother Goddess, she would shoot her down!

"This is all my strength—! Shatter it, Mountain-shaking Star-Warming!"

With Venus as the arrow and Maana, the ship of heaven, as the bow, this strike was enough to reduce Mount Ebifu to dust. It was an attack that the gods would fear.

Quetzal's flames had already spread to Tiamat's body. Though they didn't burn any of her, they suddenly soared dozens of meters to her waist. Clearly, the power of the Noble Phantasm had been activated, and Tiamat's immense magic power had become burning firewood. Koya, meanwhile, was ready, transforming into a dragon, the energy in his mouth steadily accumulating.

The next second, Ishtar's Venus Arrow flew out of the bowstring, and the shining trail made it look like a pillar of light descending from the sky. The huge magic power even formed a hurricane. Facing this blow that could shatter the sacred mountain, Tiamat still did not move at all. She just raised her hand slightly, and then the pillar of light that reached the sky fell completely into her hands.

"This--" Then the next second, Koya's breath came. This breath, which was strong enough to cut through the earth, hit Tiamat's abdomen without mercy, causing Tiamat's body to fall backwards, and the arrow in his hand fell on Tiamat's leg after losing its grip.

"Well done, Koya!"

The explosion formed huge waves and a water curtain on the sea. No one could see Tiamat's situation under the water curtain. Only her voice could be heard.

[AAAAA (Ouch, Koya, it hurts. You're amazing! Awesome!)]

Only Koya understood that Tiamat's wailing howls weren't expressions of pain. Koya and Ishtar's attacks hadn't even injured Tiamat, only a slight pain. Was this the true power of the Mother Goddess of Creation? But this wouldn't do. If it did, Tachibana and the others would be truly despairing.

"Tiamat, pretend for a moment! At least pretend to be hurt! Otherwise, Tachibana will really despair."

Koya quickly used the special effects of the pass to contact Tiamat. This scene was really difficult to perform! Tiamat's response was heard from the water curtain. Tachibana and the others had already determined that it was Tiamat's wail after being severely injured, but the reality was a little different from what they expected.

AAAAAAA (Okay, children are troublesome. Koya, can we not have children in the future?)

[Okay, okay, just pretend.]

When the water curtain dissipated, Tiamat was still standing on the black tide. A large hole appeared in her abdomen, and blood was flowing around it. Some black ash appeared where Ishtar had hit her thigh. But the next second, the black tide under her feet climbed up her body, flowing back to her abdomen and stopping. Just as Tachibana was curious about what Tiamat was really doing, the black tide receded, and Tiamat's wound disappeared completely.

[AAAAAA (Koya Koya, how's my acting?)]

[Good acting. By the way, can you please slow down a bit when coming to Uruk?]

AAAAAAA (Okay.)

"Tachibana, retreat. We can't defeat Tiamat in the Black Tide. Besides, Quetzal and Ishtar have exhausted their magic power."

With Merlin's dissuasion, the first tentative attack ended—

Chapter 181: Final Preparations

When Koya and his companions returned to Uruk on pterosaurs, the only people left in the city were fully armed soldiers who were constantly transporting magical gems from the tower to the city walls. Without exception, all the citizens retreated to the northern defense line, which had so far suffered three waves of attacks from Rahmu, but had been resisted desperately by Leonidas and Ushiwakamaru. After the three waves of attacks, Rahmu had not launched an attack for two hours. Perhaps they thought such casualties were unnecessary and were waiting for the arrival of Tiamat.

Generally speaking, the situation has stabilized, but Uruk still suffered heavy losses. Three hundred and seventy-two soldiers were left in the city of Uruk, more than seven hundred citizens and more than five hundred soldiers survived on the northern defense line... There were only more than a thousand survivors of the civilization of Uruk or Mesopotamia.

The black tide led by Tiamat has already landed. Judging from the current speed, the black tide will spread to the walls of Uruk in three hours. By then, the number of Lahmu may exceed 200 million, 200 million to 1,000, and the quality of these 200 million individual soldiers is enough to make one against a hundred for ordinary people. This despairing data was placed in front of everyone, and the divine tower fell into a long silence.

"We've finally come this far. Merlin, have you confirmed the information on Tiamat?"

"It's amazing that you're still so calm at this moment."

"For six months, I have endured in silence, allowing the three goddesses to wreak havoc in my backyard. Wasn't it all for this day? From now on, I cannot foresee what will happen next. The final battle of the Age of Gods with Tiamat is about to reveal the answer. Will the gods ultimately devour this world, or will humanity prove capable of expanding it? The answer will finally be settled at this moment. Merlin, state your question."

"Ugh."

Merlin looked at the king, so full of confidence, and couldn't bear to break his confidence. Gilgamesh hadn't been the one setting the exam, grading it, or even grading it. From the very beginning, the final battle of the Age of Gods had been decided solely by Tiamat. How distressed would the king be if he knew Tiamat was just acting? Forget it, to make the king feel better, he'd just play along with those two guys and continue the show.

"A mobile biological factory, enough magical power to power interstellar travel, and a vast biological reservoir stored within the body. Tachibana, you're a visitor from the future. What do these descriptions sound like to you?"

"I, I don't know?"

"Alas, Tiamat's divine body is an ark that can cross the sea of stars. In short, she can completely transform the planet into the appearance she likes."

"Asshole, I didn't ask you to say such hurtful words! Weakness! I want her weakness!"

"King Gilgamesh, I wanted to talk about her weaknesses too. Just now, in the battle in the Persian Gulf, Koya, Quetzal, and Ishtar used all their might, yet in the end, not a single scratch remained on her. If we can't sever her connection to the Black Tide, then Tiamat is invincible. She is flawless, both physically and mythologically, a perfect being. Most importantly, as the Mother of Life, Tiamat inherently has no concept of death. As long as there are living creatures in this world, it proves her existence. Unless we are all dead, Tiamat cannot die."

[Hey, hey, hey—Gilgamesh, are you still in the ziggurat? Has Koya returned yet? The underworld has been moved below Uruk, as you requested. By the way, I'd like to know what's going on up there? This is the first time I've seen the underworld nearly full. Are you all dead?]

"It seems that this goddess of the underworld is more reliable than Ishtar—"

"Merlin, it seems my wisdom is still superior to yours! Since the conditions for death cannot be achieved in this world, then we will travel to a world where only death exists!"

"Oh, it's amazing that you can think of this."

This time Merlin's praise came from the heart. As the owner of clairvoyance, he knew very well that clairvoyance absolutely did not have the ability to spy on the Creator God. Even an ordinary goddess could be discovered by the other party. That is to say, Gilgamesh's decision to bring the underworld here was completely based on intuition or his judgment of Tiamat, which made him decide to move the underworld to Uruk. You must know that the time when he ordered Elei to move the underworld to Uruk was when Koya and others went to fight the Gorgon.

The arrival of the underworld will definitely have an impact on Uruk, so Gilgamesh was truly remarkable for making this decision.

"Wait a minute—you want to bring the Mother Goddess to the Underworld? Impossible, no matter how I think about it, it's impossible! I can't imagine what the scene would be like if the Mother Goddess came to the Underworld!"

"Mistress of the Underworld, this is not a matter of negotiation, but an order from me in the name of the King of Uruk! I have not forgotten your offense of joining the Three Goddesses Alliance without permission and acting recklessly on the land of Uruk! Consider this your atonement!"

"You're still as annoying as ever!"

Ereshkigal suddenly appeared in the tower of gods, pointing in the direction of King Gilgamesh with the bizarre double-bladed spear in her hand, but did not attack.

"Mistress of the Underworld, can you do this?"

"To be honest, I don't know."

"Hmph, there's no other way anyway. The success of this final battle depends on you, the goddess. I hope you won't be like Ishtar, that guy who has nothing, who even lost Gugalana."

"Ah? You know?"

"Hmph, with your personality, if Gugalana was still around in the Persian Gulf, you would have made it appear."

"Hahaha, sorry!"

"I never counted on you, useless goddess. Let's discuss how to deal with Tiamat. Even if we can defeat her by dragging her into the underworld, inflicting a fatal wound on her is a major problem. Koya Constantine, are you confident?"

"Maybe. This is my trump card, but I'm not sure if it will work."

Koya took out the holy sword that he had never taken out from the warehouse. Koya held it in his hand. The sword body trembled lightly twice and then returned to calm. It was not like the holy sword depicted in the Orario picture book, which emitted thousands of feet of light as soon as it was born, and had purple air coming from the east for 30,000 miles. Apart from its somewhat exaggerated appearance, it looked like an ordinary sword.

"This sword..."

"There seems to be something wrong with this sword?"

Everyone present was a powerful and knowledgeable person. Gilgamesh and Quetzal stared at the sword in Coya's hand in a daze. The knowledge in their minds had already given the answer, but their reason told them that it couldn't be this thing. After all, there was only one person in the entire Valhalla who held this weapon, and they had never seen a second identical weapon.

"Hmm? Is there anything strange about this sword? Can Koya show it to me?"

"Ah."

"Wait, don't!"

Quetzal's voice was still a step too slow. Ishtar, bewildered, took the hilt from Koya's hand, and was then flung back. Everyone watched as Ishtar tumbled down the steps of the ziggurat in a panic. Given her physical condition, Ishtar wouldn't be injured, but it was a bit embarrassing. Uruk was deserted, with only soldiers stationed near the ziggurat. Their expressions as they watched their city's god tumble down the ziggurat were truly remarkable.

"The goddess Ishtar—"

Siduri was the first one to react among the group. She quickly ran out of the temple to check on Ishtar. Gilgamesh and Quetzal confirmed Ishtar's identity through the power released by the sword when it just knocked Ishtar away.

This thing, which looks like a demonic sword from any angle, is indeed a holy sword, the highest of all holy swords, the Sword of Salvation—a sword that has so far only appeared in the hands of King Arthur from another world. It is the shining holy sword that saves the stars. Forged to defeat the alien enemies who seek to destroy the stars, this golden blade can repel all evil. He is a beast hunter, traveling from world to world to save the world.

Now the second holy sword appeared—

“It seems like we can actually win.”