"Buzz!"
At the brink of disaster, the air trembled violently. From the darkness, a monstrous figure—human from the waist up, serpent from the waist down—suddenly emerged, casting its vast shadow over the three arks of Noah.
A chilling, oppressive aura swept forth, sending shivers through Tim and the others navigating the ships. It was the very demon that had once drenched the northern wall in blood.
Despair began to spread.
But in the next moment, crimson vertical pupils flared wide in fury, and beams of violet mana surged overhead, raining down upon Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, in a concentrated barrage.
The cascading, expanding halos of energy lit up half the sky. Under the sheer impact, Gugalanna was forced back over a hundred meters, gray-white petrification marks spreading across his already wounded hide.
"Moo!"
As the violet-red beams finally lost their power, Gugalanna stomped the ground with glowing metallic hooves, bracing himself against the creeping petrification.
At the same time, lightning bolts thick as barrels struck the sea one after another, each impact making Tim's hair stand on end.
Looking up, he saw several bolts of lightning streaking directly toward the Noah's Arks—his blood froze.
Boom! Boom!
Right then, a pair of soft, pale yellow wings unfurled across the sky, shielding the dome from the oncoming lightning. The arks, protected beneath them, continued sailing safely toward the breached southern wall of Uruk.
Drip... drip...
Tim, standing on the deck, instinctively raised his hand and wiped the warm liquid trailing down his cheek. When he looked at the bright red smeared on his fingers, his expression turned dazed.
"I'll lock down its movements! Keep going!"
A cold, commanding shout echoed from above. Overhead, the Serpent Goddess unleashed beams from her Petrifying Mystic Eyes, bathing Gugalanna's limbs in violet mana as both divine powers collided in a tense standoff.
Bursts of lightning-forged thorns exploded in the sky. Amid the flickering light, a small ring-like object was torn apart by the winds, scattering in all directions, falling like confetti.
On the deck, Tim reached out with his lone arm, staring at the dried petal resting in his palm. Realization dawned in his eyes. Solemnly, he struck his chest in salute.
The snake-haired goddess who had haunted his dreams could no longer stir fear within him. And those soft yellow wings across the sky—so warm.
Even a demon's form can bear the wings of an angel.
Power, after all, isn't inherently good or evil. Only hearts carry such intentions.
You've finally accepted it, Ana.
...
Atop the Divine Tower, Samael watched the goddess Gorgon now locked in a standoff with Gugalanna, and smiled with quiet satisfaction.
After defeating the Goddess of Demonic Beasts, Ana had inherited her future self's "evil power." But the fatal curse left behind by the snake-haired monster had become a thorn lodged in her soul. Even when her life was in danger, the girl refused to tap into that power—terrified of walking the same dark path.
But in the end, her resolve to protect Uruk outweighed the fear of her fate.
And so, in that fierce, monstrous form, she made her choice—to protect.
"Thank goodness... thank goodness..."
Standing at the railing and watching the battlefield, Merlin let out a breath of relief as he saw the three Noah's Arks break through the most perilous zone and enter the inner city of Uruk. He patted his chest lightly, tension easing from his shoulders.
"Ere, initiate Plan Two!"
At that moment, Samael returned to the war table and slammed his palm down with a sharp shout.
Instantly, the ground rumbled again. The mountainous terrain that had previously blocked the Laḫmu's advance collapsed and crumbled. Torrents of floodwater surged forth, submerging most of the buildings and spilling toward the elevated highland before the Divine Tower of the royal palace.
With that, the reef-like obstacles that had barred the Noah's Arks were swept away.
This was why Samael had allowed the Laḫmu to breach the city through the southern gate. That route connected to the twin rivers and flowed directly into the Persian Gulf. More importantly, the only threat—Abgallu the sea monster—had already been taken down by Kukulkan. It was the safest passage.
After all, to allow the Arks through, the city walls and outer structures would have to be cleared eventually. It was better to use the flood to force a battlefield stalemate and buy time.
"Activate Magecraft Levels One through Four! Priestesses and clergy of the Temple of Ea, hold the formation—watch the draft line carefully!"
Seeing the signal flare rise from above the Divine Tower, Tim bellowed at the magic array team inside the cabin.
"All gunports, open!"
With creaking sounds, the gunports along both sides rotated into position. Hundreds of sacred emblems aligned for firing, and beams of mana swept across the surrounding waters.
Laḫmu—rising from the depths or hovering midair—were shot down one after another. Their bodies exploded into purple-black chunks, and their grotesque laughter turned chaotic and distorted.
"All combat units, prepare for docking!"
Seeing most of the nearby Laḫmu wiped out, the one-armed general raised his short blade and rushed onto the deck.
Thousands of Magi and soldiers surged out from below decks, quickly forming ranks to engage the enemy.
At the same time, the remaining soldiers and Jaguar Warriors stationed near the royal palace flanks, though few in number, held their lines fiercely. They repeatedly drove back Laḫmu trying to clamber up from the floodwaters, carving out a chance for the Arks to dock.
High above, only about a hundred Quetzalcoatlus Riders remained, each now facing enemies many times their number.
As for the northern wall—Uruk's strongest bastion—it had suffered the worst.
"Roar!"
The world-ending dragon, now fully formed with its scaled body gleaming, folded its wings and descended. Its massive frame crushed what remained of the central wall in an instant.
Its gaping maw turned toward the three incoming Arks. Ether turbulence, wild and unstable, compressed within.
"How dare you ignore me, mongrel!"
With a thunderous roar, a spiral of red and black light slashed down from the sky, blowing off half the dragon's head and launching it backward.
The angled burst of Ether turbulence barely missed Ishtar—but struck the Astrology Tower behind her.
Alarms flared. Dozens of autonomous defense spells formed layers of protective arrays in front of the tower.
But under Apsu's devastating mana, those barriers were as fragile as soap bubbles. The moment the red-black light touched them, they burst into nothingness.
The Astrology Tower was then cleaved in half, collapsing with a thunderous crash. The solar calendar stone, delicate and ancient, plummeted toward the waters below.
At that critical moment, a sharp whistle split the air.
Dozens of Quetzalcoatlus, nets dangling beneath them, dove in and barely managed to retrieve the divine vessel carrying Kukulkan's essence.
Jaguar Warriors leapt from ruined buildings along the outer ring, striking down dozens of Laḫmu to make way. They were the first to bring the solar calendar stone and the heavily wounded Feathered Serpent Goddess aboard the upper deck of the Ark.
At that moment, the northern wall was on the verge of total collapse.
Kukulkan, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu were all severely wounded. Ana was pinned down by Gugalanna. Ishtar was nearly spent. The gods' power had almost run dry.
Laḫmu swarmed up from the abyss, overrunning the ruins of the defenses. Only the western section of the wall remained—barely resisting.
With every passing second, more Laḫmu broke into bunkers, towers, and hidden caches. Their shrieking laughter drowned out all remaining screams and battle cries.
The immortal army that Samael and Gilgamesh had painstakingly prepared had returned fully to the embrace of the Underworld Goddess.
From above, the view was bleak. Smoke rose everywhere across Uruk. Floodwaters carved deep ravines into the land. The city looked like a toy crushed in a giant's palm—ruined and teetering on the edge of collapse.
But amidst all of it, as he looked down on the burning fortress-city, what worried Samael most... was something else entirely.
It seemed... Uruk no longer frightened Apsu.
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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