The Servants and gods participating in this Song of Creation all pondered a simple yet crucial question:
How should a mythic battle, spanning human history, shaping the course of humanity, and deciding its fate, come to its conclusion?
How would they witness the end of this mythic war?
They had thought long and hard.
There were only two possible outcomes.
Either they would exhaust every effort to defeat the Mother of Genesis, saving human history, or they would face the fully unsealed Mother of Genesis, powerless, watching Tiamat claim victory.
But as they fought side by side, witnessing the indomitable will and golden spirit of humanity beyond this era, they found clarity. They believed victory would be theirs.
"Attack together!!"
The moment Tiamat's dragon form plummeted into the Underworld's abyss, the Heroic Spirits on the scene acted without hesitation.
The Underworld launched its counterattack.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!
Above the massive crater Tiamat's fall created, countless dark red thunderbolts of Underworld judgment seeped from the black earth, rivaling the Melammu Dingir in power and heat, relentlessly scorching the Mother of Genesis's body, tormenting her senses.
"Aaaaaaaaa!!!"
The sudden, searing pain drew a wail from Tiamat's dragon form.
These coursing dark red thunderbolts were the Underworld's defense mechanism. Intruders entering without the mistress's permission faced this terrifying punishment. Long ago, Ishtar, who barged into the Underworld, experienced it firsthand, the fearsome lightning humbling her reckless, fearless nature, teaching her dread for the first time.
Roy had escaped this fate last time because Ereshkigal harbored no killing intent and was swayed by his words, sparing him from the Underworld's defenses, these terrifying thunderbolts.
But… though he avoided it then, could he escape now?
As the dark red currents surged across Tiamat's dragon form, Roy, standing atop her, felt the excruciating heat of the Underworld's thunder.
How to describe it…
Despite his mana shielding him, the pain was no less than enduring a Demon Pillar's [Incineration Formula] head-on.
"The Underworld's defense mechanism… what incredible power…"
He gritted his teeth, muttering in awe.
Tiamat Lily, clinging close to Roy, also endured the Underworld's electric punishment.
"Aaa… aaa… aa."
"Eh?! Wait… I'll-"
Seeing the thunder affect Roy and Tiamat Lily, Ereshkigal's expression turned frantic. She raised her divine spear, Meslamtaea, to halt the lightning.
"Wait! Ereshkigal, don't hesitate, strike now!!"
Noticing Ereshkigal's intent, Tezcatlipoca, observing nearby, grabbed her wrist, stopping her. With a grave expression, he said, "Mesopotamian Underworld Goddess, no matter what, you must not disable the Underworld's punishment now."
Tezcatlipoca glanced meaningfully at the scene below.
Though Roy stood with Tiamat's dragon form, attacking now would inevitably harm him.
This young Underworld goddess hesitated for that very reason.
But war demands sacrifice. Too many had already fallen, even Uruk's king becoming a true visitor to the Underworld. They had to press forward.
"But…"
"Do it, Ereshkigal! Don't worry about me! I can handle this!!"
From the pit's depths, amidst the white mana dodging Tiamat's cataclysmic attacks and enduring the Underworld's punishment, Roy's voice carried through his mana.
"I understand, damn it…"
Clenching her teeth in frustration, Ereshkigal turned to face Tiamat's dragon form, enduring the Underworld's thunder while still reaching for Roy to reclaim the Goddess of Fate. With resolute tone, she prepared to deliver her full-force strike, honoring everyone's determination.
"Alright, this is my final blow!!!"
Drawing her golden spear, Ereshkigal's crimson-amber eyes turned divine gold, signaling her full divinity. In that simple shift, the already cold Underworld grew icier, the dark red thunder falling from above and the divine domain enveloping Roy and Tiamat's dragon form solidifying.
She was unleashing her full power.
"Underworld's Gallu Spirits, spears of decay standing tall!!"
With her soft chant, Ereshkigal's voice became the force commanding the Underworld's operation.
The mana's influence caused the ground around Tiamat to crumble, rising into towering earthen walls imprisoning the evil dragon.
The rising fault lines unleashed more dark red thunder, inflicting further burns on Tiamat's dragon form. But this wasn't the true attack. To face the Mother of Genesis, Ereshkigal had prepared a formidable trump card; the thunder was merely to restrict Tiamat's movements.
"As the goddess of hell, the Underworld, death, and decay, I, Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld, command! Grant the intruder our Underworld's judgment! Attack with full force!!"
Turning the Underworld's death and solitude into crimson thunder, Ereshkigal unleashed her true power as its goddess. Her command transformed the hovering Gallu Spirits into the Underworld Goddess's judgment thunder, launching a final assault on the Mother of Genesis, Tiamat.
"Not bad, decisive, little lady."
Sensing the dramatic shift in the Underworld below and the crimson thunder brewing from the Gallu Spirits, even Tezcatlipoca, a veteran Aztec Underworld god, let out a praise.
He acknowledged the young Mesopotamian Underworld goddess.
"Exactly…"
In the pit below, Roy, sensing the massive thunder brewing above, smiled faintly.
"That's it, Ereshkigal. Do your best, don't mind me. In terms of speed and endurance, I'm quite confident."
"Aaa… aaa…"
Not just Roy, but Tiamat Lily, hanging around his neck, showed resolute eyes, her voice filled with determination.
She was ready to face the Underworld's thunderous punishment with Roy.
But…
"Aaa… aa… aa?" (Why am I flying?)
The next moment, Tiamat Lily felt her body lighten as a sudden force grabbed her arm, flinging her skyward.
Realizing too late, she found herself hurled out of the pit by Roy, soaring dozens of meters into the air.
"Aa… aa… aa!!" (Don't leave me behind!!)
Sensing Roy's intent, Tiamat Lily's face grew anxious. Her petite body flailed midair, trying to redirect herself back toward the pit.
But then, Quetzalcoatl acted swiftly.
"Don't be scared, Tiamat Lily~ Onee-san's got you~"
Spinning and leaping, the blonde goddess soared over the pit, catching Tiamat Lily's small frame and landing steadily on the ground.
"Aa… aa… aaaa!!" (Let me go!!)
Tiamat Lily, held by Quetzalcoatl, voiced her discontent.
"Oh, don't like Onee-san? Sorry, but no can do~ Little brother's fighting bravely down there, and you'd only burden him now."
Understanding Tiamat Lily's words, Quetzalcoatl shook her head, refusing her request.
For whatever reason, she wouldn't let Tiamat Lily return to the pit.
Her current weakness would only hinder Roy, not to mention if Tiamat's dragon form reclaimed the Goddess of Fate, completing her concept, the battle would be unwinnable.
So Quetzalcoatl held Tiamat Lily tightly, happily patting the tiny Mother of Genesis.
As a fellow earth goddess, she quite liked Tiamat Lily's aura.
Like sisters!!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Sensing the Goddess of Fate's sudden departure, Tiamat's massive dragon form roared in fury, black mud seeping from her body. But before she could unleash the Sea of Chaos to counterattack, Roy, atop her, ignited black flames, incinerating the mud.
Yet, endless crimson thunder raged across Tiamat and Roy's bodies. Even with the Third Magic fully active and Merlin's magecraft support, Roy gritted his teeth against the excruciating pain.
It wouldn't kill him, but it hurt like hell…
Ishtar, having just arrived with Ritsuka and Mash, saw Roy enduring the Underworld's violent thunder alongside Tiamat's dragon form and shouted, "Are you insane? Get up here! Why stay down there getting struck?!!"
"Roy-senpai, jump out quick!"
"I know…"
Hearing Ishtar and Ritsuka, Roy clenched his teeth, his hands never faltering.
They'd just arrived, unaware of the situation he faced or how fiercely the Beast of Calamity beneath him resisted.
Even the Underworld's ferocious thunder only hurt Tiamat's dragon form, causing pain without damaging her essence. To truly defeat her, this was far from enough.
If he didn't suppress her here, this terrifying dragon could unleash black mud again and escape the pit.
"Don't worry… trust me, I'll get out!!"
"But…"
Ritsuka and Mash looked worried.
"Just believe in me! By the name of the Command Spell, Ereshkigal, unleash your Noble Phantasm!!"
"I understand."
A crimson flash, and the three-stroke Command Spell vanished from Roy's hand, its binding and enhancing power surging into Ereshkigal.
"…"
But for the Underworld Goddess, standing on her domain's soil, a mere Command Spell held little sway. Yet Roy's will and words reached her mind.
She chose to trust her ally.
Ereshkigal instructed gravely, "Roy, you must dodge my next move, got it?!"
"I will."
"Good, don't lie to me."
After a brief exchange, Ereshkigal shed her hesitation, raising her golden divine spear, channeling her divine authority over Mesopotamia's Underworld.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
A piercing, chilling wind, accompanied by shrieks, rose from the Underworld's depths.
"The heavens hold an absolute sea, the earth a purgatory-"
"My heels are the Underworld's wrath, the Blazing Temple manifests here!!"
At the command of Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld, the circling Gallu Spirits turned into judgment thunder. Humans who died in this calamity, now spirits, became azure flames of judgment, alongside other terrifying Underworld elements, relentlessly punishing Tiamat's dragon form, fully reflecting the hatred and pain of death onto the calamity's instigator.
The searing heat and currents erupted, their power overwhelming even gods, let alone frail human bodies.
Ereshkigal, Mistress of the Underworld, continued her chant:
"Feel the weight of the Underworld's soil, punish the calamity ravaging the earth."
"Underworld, fall!!"
With thunder and flames delivering a mighty judgment, Tiamat's dragon form gradually became immobilized. Seizing the moment, Ereshkigal poured all her mana and divine power into her divine weapon, Meslamtaea, the Blazing Temple.
Buzz buzz buzz!!
The earth trembled ceaselessly, thunder cheering as the piercing spear, symbolizing the Blazing Temple, shone with its fiercest light.
While suppressing Tiamat's dragon form and enduring the same pain, Roy raised his hand, a smile on his face.
"Run, you idiot!!"
Seeing Ereshkigal's stance, Ishtar knew this attack couldn't be stopped.
Her speed couldn't save Roy in this situation, so she shouted, "Hey, jerk! Don't do anything stupid! If Ereshkigal kills you herself, her heart will break completely!!"
"I'll save him."
Quetzalcoatl, ever action-oriented, rolled up her sleeves, ready to brave the Underworld's punishment to rescue Roy.
Tezcatlipoca, unyielding, punched her, blocking her path, and mocked, "Don't be ridiculous, birdbrain. Even the Venus goddess sees the situation better. If the Underworld's punishment could be breached so easily, you wouldn't have been beaten by me hundreds of times in Mictlan."
"But…"
"No buts. Trust the Master. He's not reckless. He may act wild, but he's not foolish. If he's doing this, he has a plan to escape."
As Tezcatlipoca said, just before the thunder coalesced and fell, Roy cut off the mana suppressing Tiamat's dragon form and leapt upward.
His pupils turned gold, black flames roaring across his body, dark light flashing as his speed reached its peak.
"Our path is the shore of resolved enmity-"
"Tiger, burn fiercely!!"
The black shadow ignited into blazing flames.
This time was unlike any other. The black flames in his soul reached their zenith, and Roy's speed hit its ultimate limit.
In his vision, the world seemed frozen, space and time laid bare before him, ready for him to traverse.
"Kuhahahahahahaha!!!"
Yielding to some will, he let out a joyous laugh.
"That was… the Count of Monte Cristo's Noble Phantasm?"
The familiar black flames and gleeful laughter reminded Ritsuka of the green figure haunting her dreams.
"…"
Meanwhile, deep in her soul, a pair of golden eyes seemed to sense something, slowly opening.
"Heh? So soon, my accomplice?"
In less than a second, Roy's figure burst from the pit, appearing on the ground.
"See, I'm out."
He waved to Ishtar and Ritsuka, then smiled at Ereshkigal, "Good work."
"N-no… not hard at all!!"
Seeing Roy beside her, Ereshkigal's face flushed, the weight in her heart finally lifting.
She felt immense relief, then, without hesitation, aimed her divine spear at Tiamat below.
"Trampling the Spiritual Peak, Forging the Underworld's Furnace · Kur Kigal Irkalla!!!"
The blazing spear pierced the Underworld's domain under Ereshkigal's control, the ground around Tiamat rumbling. Thunder and flames danced in the Underworld's sky, forming a crimson orb of Ereshkigal's final judgment.
Countless dark spears rose from the ground as lances of judgment, piercing Tiamat's body. Though mere toothpicks to her dragon form, their power, capable of leveling a city in moments, was undeniable.
These spear cages were akin to Ishtar's An Gal Ta Kigal She.
But unlike Ishtar's sky-to-earth bombardment, this Noble Phantasm was the Underworld Mistress's hammer, launched from the earth's depths.
Through earthquakes and crustal shifts, it collapsed Abif Mountain.
Though less potent than Ishtar's Venus blast, its essence lay in 'transforming the terrain into the Underworld.'
In the Underworld, Ereshkigal's immense authority granted powerful protection to all fighting alongside her.
As the Underworld's earth became a hammer crashing down, a radiant aura enveloped all Servants and Heroic Spirits, greatly enhancing their strength and condition.
A blessing from the Underworld, Ereshkigal's greatest aid as a kind goddess.
"Hehe, how's that? Roy, wasn't my move awesome?"
After unleashing her proudest Noble Phantasm, Ereshkigal turned, beaming at Roy, her expression adorable, like a puppy awaiting praise.
But Roy's face was grave.
He grabbed her arm, urgently saying, "That was too reckless! Idiot, retract those Underworld blessings now!"
"Eh?!"
___
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