By the seashore, Guinevere and the King of Knights were still waiting.
North of the Absolute Demonic Front, Ritsuka and the others were bringing their subjugation of Gorgon to an end.
It was marked by the deaths of over a hundred cavalrymen, the corpses of the Magical Beast horde strewn across the field, and the valiant fighting of Ritsuka and her companions.
But in the end, Anna still voluntarily jumped into Gorgon's mouth. After their two Spirit Origins merged into one, a war for control of the body began on the level of consciousness.
And the result of this war...
"Anna!"
"Yes, it's me!"
From the pool of blood piled high, Gorgon's body was covered in wounds. As she slowly rose from her long collapse, her cold Mystic Eyes of Petrification revealed a gentle gaze.
Everyone present knew that Merlin's prophecy was accurate. Anna had indeed defeated her older self.
However...
"Anna, won't you eat this? This is the medicine the King of Heroes gave you to return to your youth."
"If I eat it, I'll return to the weak form of my childhood, won't I?"
"Anna..."
"Then I won't eat it. Besides, I can't see fear or disgust in your eyes, but I won't return to the Absolute Demonic Front. I will go directly to the front lines after Tiamat appears. My adult self killed too many people at the Absolute Demonic Front."
"Then Anna, let Mash and me accompany you until Goddess Tiamat appears. After all, we don't have anything else to do until she shows up anyway!"
After defeating Ereshkigal-chan, Ritsuka and Mash stayed with her in the Underworld for a long time. Now that Anna had defeated Gorgon, although she seemed willing to sacrifice her own needs for the war effort, it was precisely because of this that Ritsuka wanted to spend more time talking with her, and to pet her exceptionally large cheek more often.
Besides, with her hundred-meter-class body, Anna was truly super big.
Meanwhile, on another stretch of coastline not far from Guinevere and the others, the King of Heroes and Kingu faced off once more.
Silent, exchanging glances, just that.
They said nothing, but their eyes said everything.
"Last chance. Do you really intend to become Uruk's enemy?"
"I am Kingu, the child of Tiamat and commander of the Eleven Magical Beasts."
"But you are also a human of the Old Era, something Tiamat does not need."
It was recorded in the Tablet of Destinies. Shortly after this, if Kingu remained stubborn, he would be sneak-attacked and pierced by the already born Lahmu, who would then seize the Demon God King's Holy Grail currently within his body.
"Kingu, you should understand that there is no place for you in Goddess Tiamat's New World!"
Heart trembling, body stiffening, after the King of Heroes' harsh words, this was the meaning of Kingu's existence, as the vanguard for Tiamat's [ Regression ]. Even if he was truly to be discarded soon, he could not be easily persuaded.
Yet, even as Kingu's face contorted, his heart ached more and more. From the bottom of his heart, he did not want to be enemies with the King of Heroes before him.
He gasped for air, breathing with all his might, then straightened his body and met the other's gaze with cold eyes.
"King of Heroes, what if I am still stubborn?"
"Then for the sake of Uruk, I will ask you to leave this place first. My hesitation toward you..."
"Is hesitation for Enkidu, isn't it!"
"No, it is hesitation for you, Kingu. In my eyes, you are not the child of Tiamat, but the child of Enkidu reborn from Enkidu's regrets. Toward the child of my deceased friend, I have the responsibility to care for him, dote on him, and guide him to grow up well!"
As he spoke, the King of Heroes' expression remained unchanged. He could clearly distinguish who was Enkidu and who was Kingu, and his gaze had indeed softened into the look of someone watching a junior.
Yet this very gaze enraged Kingu, warmed Kingu, left him bewildered, and caused the Chains of Heaven, which were thicker than tree trunks, to crash down beside the King of Heroes.
In his fury, Kingu thought of killing the King of Heroes, but in his subconscious, he refused to strike him.
"Hah... hah..."
Another heavy gasp for air, Kingu's anger now mixed with fury at himself, as he heard the King of Heroes' next words:
"As I thought, you cannot use it, Enkidu's Age of Babylon."
"I told you, I am Kingu, the child of Tiamat!"
"No, you are the child of Enkidu. Tiamat, still within the Imaginary Number Space, could not have given birth to you."
The so-called [ Age of Babylon ] was a Noble Phantasm that corresponded to the King of Heroes' [ Gate of Babylon ]. It could utilize the memories of the planet to produce anything created before the current era from the earth itself, making it an extremely broken, Concept-class Noble Phantasm.
If Kingu could use it, he could truly rival the King of Heroes.
Otherwise, even as more and more of the new generation of Magical Beasts gathered around them, Kingu had not a shred of hope of defeating the King of Heroes.
"I told you! I am the commander of Tiamat's Eleven Magical Beasts."
This declaration was hysterical, and hundreds or thousands of Magical Beasts lunged at the King of Heroes. With a sigh, the King of Heroes in the Caster Class swung his axe, summoning a bloody storm.
But he clearly had the power to truly make Kingu stay, yet he still went back on his word and ceased his attack.
Bearing Enkidu's face, and faced with the fact that he spared Uruk, the King of Heroes truly could not bring himself to strike a lethal blow against him.
"It will simply mean that the King and Queen of Camelot will have to put in a little more effort."
In the Tablet of Destinies, the future victory had already been clearly written. Only the process he had failed to record clearly remained vague; thus, the King of Heroes had this sliver of mercy and the leeway to go easy on him.
And back on the coast, Guinevere was still reclining in the King of Knights' arms. They both felt the burst of Kingu's aura and sensed it descending toward the ocean nearby.
"Guinevere, don't you plan to go help the King of Heroes attack?"
"Where would we have such leeway? Moreover, at his speed, even Vimana could not catch up. How should I put it? The King of Heroes' choice to spare him actually gives me more confidence in our victory in this battle. It just means we will have to work a bit harder."
Although Guinevere disliked the King of Heroes, the one she loathed was the Archer Class King of Heroes who acted supercilious and exceptionally arrogant. As for the Caster Class, the King of Heroes who could be called the Wise King...
Guinevere believed his judgment was clear and that he would not make a mistake.
"Lia, how much longer do you think we'll be waiting here?"
"If Kingu is running wild with the Holy Grail, playing hide-and-seek with us, then Tiamat will likely regress on schedule after her term is full."
"But now that Kingu's been provoked, if he uses the Grail to directly trigger Tiamat's Regression, then..."
Yes, if Kingu uses the Grail to trigger her Regression early via a caesarean section...
A wind blew in from the depths of the ocean, carrying the polluted clamor of voices from the deep.
At the same time, the azure sea was being stained crimson at a visible rate.
Tiamat's 'amniotic fluid' had broken. In the Sea of Life that belonged to her, the second-generation humans known as the Lahmu had already been born, and they began to advance from the sea toward the land.