The Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, possesses all the authority of the Underworld, making her nearly invincible within its domain.
The rules of the Underworld are the single standard jointly established by the gods of Mesopotamia, and even the primordial goddess Tiamat cannot resist them!
At every moment, Tiamat is being scorched by heat equivalent to Ishtar's Noble Phantasm.
Having already been forcibly dragged into the Underworld, Tiamat is immediately suppressed. Rolling thunder fills the silent abyss!
And the goddess who commands this vast thunderstorm holds a divine spear, her eyes glowing with divine radiance. At this moment, the full divinity of the Underworld's ruler, Ereshkigal, is unleashed.
Since Gilgamesh truly belongs to the Underworld after his death, he issues one last command to Ereshkigal, who is busy with the phase transfer:
Fight with everything you have!
Facing Tiamat, Ereshkigal naturally does not hold back.
However, Alaric's absence leaves her somewhat disappointed. Originally, Alaric was supposed to arrive in the Underworld alongside the others, but at some point, he mysteriously disappeared.
"This is the Underworld's defense mechanism, designed specifically to punish any living beings who enter without permission~"
Speaking of her Underworld, Ereshkigal wears a proud expression and declares, "This is heat that not even Alaric could withstand."
Aside from Fujimaru and Mash, who descended into the Underworld to save King Gilgamesh, Alaric has now entered the Underworld for a second time.
Ereshkigal has never understood why Alaric was not affected by the Underworld's defense mechanisms the last time he was here. She certainly had not granted him any special permissions.
With this curiosity, Ereshkigal observed Alaric for a while. Although she lost sight of him for some time, in the end, she saw him leave the Underworld.
"Lady Ereshkigal is amazing!"
Mash exclaimed in awe as she watched the thunder under Ereshkigal's command.
Beside her, Fujimaru also smiled and said, "Well, it's Lady Ereshkigal's special privilege, after all."
Even though she didn't hear Alaric's praise, Fujimaru and Mash's admiration still made Ereshkigal display the same proud expression as Ishtar.
Far away in Chaldea, both Romani and Da Vinci observed the battle and were instantly thrilled.
"At this rate, we can win!"
Victory seemed within reach!
Unlike the others, Gilgamesh stood with his arms crossed, his expression calm. He gazed at Tiamat, who was being engulfed by lightning, and slowly spoke:
"Primordial goddess, Tiamat.
I hold no hatred toward you. While the people of Uruk may resent you, there is no true enmity—only an irreconcilable difference.
You are a being of birth and management;
We are beings of growth and journey.
No matter how deep a child's love for their mother, they must eventually leave her."
This confession between gods and mortals was simply a farewell from children to their mother.
[Aaaaaaaa]!!!!
As the Underworld's defense mechanisms activated, Tiamat let out a painful wail, as if this attack could truly bring about her demise!
Watching this, Ereshkigal's lips curled upward.
"King of Uruk, watch closely. Let this all end here. As the Mistress of the Underworld, I shall put an end to everything."
"Spirits of Garula! Spears of decay, towering and unyielding—deliver the Underworld's judgment upon the invader!"
At the goddess's decree, dazzling thunder spears materialized from the void, descending upon the supreme deity!
[Aaaaaaa!!!!]
As the Underworld's judgment fell, Tiamat's agonized screams grew even more terrifying, echoing throughout the entire Underworld!
"Even Tiamat cannot withstand my and Garula Spirits' attacks..."
As Ereshkigal murmured to herself, the sound of waves arose.
Splish, splash.
The roar of violent tides echoed through the Underworld, bringing an unfamiliar presence to this desolate realm.
This was impossible. The Underworld had no ocean to nurture life—it was a place of absolute barrenness.
But exceptions existed.
The goddess who had fallen into the Underworld was the primordial ocean itself—the origin of life!
The chaos tides surged outward in an instant, swallowing the lightning that had been relentlessly burning Tiamat's divine body. The tide continued expanding, and in mere seconds, it nearly reached Ereshkigal!
["Can the Chaos Tide even erode the Underworld?!"]
This sudden turn of events caused Romani and Da Vinci—watching from Chaldea—to go pale.
The power of the primordial goddess was overwhelming. No one had expected that she could corrupt and reshape the Underworld itself!
The chaos tide, capable of covering the entire world in seven days, now bared its fangs beneath the earth!
But beyond the spreading primordial waves, the true shock came from Tiamat herself.
Her colossal body was enveloped by the tide, and the signal detected from her spirit core made every alarm in Chaldea flash red!
"What is this reading?! Tiamat's spirit core is regressing to the Age of Gods—she's reverting to the Jurassic Era! This is no longer mere divinity—this is an unquestionable divine body!"
Romani shouted in shock, "Right now, Tiamat has become a true Primordial God!"
Splish, splash.
As the chaotic tides surged, Fujimaru and the others finally saw what lay hidden within—
No longer the spirit core of the Demonic Beast Goddess, but something even more primal and ferocious—
A form that spoke of the primeval age before human intelligence arose, a divine body from over a hundred million years ago—the true form of the Primordial Goddess!
She had completely shed her humanoid form—
She had become a dragon!
Self-Modification: EX
Using the Chaos, she has reconstructed her spirit core, evolving from her previous form into her ultimate dragon form.
In this state, any attack below A++ rank is completely ineffective.
But beyond this primal dragon form, the most shocking sight was the tide itself—
As Tiamat fully revealed her true divine body, the scattered chaos tides seemed to continue corroding the Underworld. If that were all, it wouldn't have shocked Fujimaru and the others so much.
Splish.
From within the chaos tide, a girl emerged.
Dressed in a black dress, with crimson dragon horns curling atop her head.
Her expression was cold, and as she stepped forward, her dark dress shifted into armor in an instant.
"The Crimson Dragon—"
Fujimaru recognized her immediately.
She was the wrongful existence that Alaric had once completely slain.
Could Tiamat create another one?!
According to Chaldea's and Alaric's predictions, Tiamat should have only been capable of producing a single Crimson Dragon.
But now, she had manifested another one?!
"Ehhhhh?! Did I mess something up again?! Who is she?! Alaric's sister?!"
The utterly confused Underworld goddess screamed in shock, unable to understand the appearance of the Crimson Dragon.
It wasn't just Ereshkigal—
Even the Golden King, watching from nearby, frowned deeply.
This was Gilgamesh's first time seeing the Crimson Dragon.
And with just one look, he could tell—
This would be troublesome.
"Akaric... What kind of disaster have you unleashed now?"
Sizzle!
Scarlet lightning spread through the chaos tide. As the chaos tide eroded the Underworld, even the Underworld itself could not stop the stormy sea from expanding!
In an instant, it was about to reach Ritsuka and Mash!
Standing in front of everyone, Mash had a solemn expression. Just as she was about to activate her Noble Phantasm—
Almost at the same time, or even faster, a pitch-black star fell from the heavens, crashing into the ground with a roar and sending the white-haired magus flying.
"Hello, everyone!"
The Magus of Flowers, Merlin, landed on his backside but playfully winked despite his rough landing. However, his hands never stopped moving.
Flowers quietly bloomed, spreading throughout the chaos tide and transforming the eerie land of the dead into a vast sea of flowers.
In an instant, the chaos tide that had been eroding the Underworld disappeared entirely, leaving behind only a nameless girl standing alone amid the flower field.
This was also the first time Merlin laid eyes on the girl of the Crimson Dragon. That figure—
Even though he had been prepared, seeing it in person still gave Merlin an indescribable sense of unease.
"Artoria stirring up trouble… and you too, Alaric?"
Unaware of Merlin's inner complaints, Alaric gazed at the Crimson Dragon below and the primordial goddess Tiamat, who had fully revealed her divine majesty, with a dazed expression.
The blueprint of life had already been recorded. As the Primordial Goddess, Tiamat could create corresponding life forms infinitely—this was the supreme authority of the Beast of Fertility.
But even so, they were merely similar, not identical.
If it were just the reappearance of the Crimson Dragon, Alaric wouldn't have paid much attention. But more importantly—
The girl of the Crimson Dragon, upon seeing a familiar figure once again, revealed a dazzling smile.
"Welcome back."
At the same time, the roar of the Primordial Goddess erupted.
With Merlin's forceful intervention, the chaos tide was largely suppressed, preventing Tiamat from further corroding this land of the dead.
[Aaaaaa!!!]
With a deafening roar, the massive dragon wings behind Tiamat began to move. With just a single flap, a terrifying shockwave was unleashed, creating an overwhelming pressure that made it hard for them to keep their eyes open!
"She's trying to leave the Underworld!"
Ishtar's expression was grim as her gaze flickered between the Crimson Dragon and Tiamat.
This time, even though the Crimson Dragon had lost the magical energy support of the chaos tide, its presence was even more terrifying!
Even without infinite magical power, she still exerted god-tier strength—
And not just any god-tier, but among the strongest!
Alaric remained motionless, staring at the girl of the Crimson Dragon. He had a feeling that if he made even the slightest move, she would strike instantly, severing his head in a single slash.
But Alaric wasn't worried about the girl's attack. In fact, in this situation, he was confident he could kill the Crimson Dragon outright!
Facing the Crimson Dragon again, Alaric had no hesitation. The real threat holding him back was—
The Primordial Goddess, Tiamat, who still knew no concept of death.
Even in this land of the dead, Alaric could not find a single flaw in Tiamat's form.
"Merlin, what do we do?"
Alaric asked without even turning his head.
At the fall of Uruk, Alaric had sensed the magical presence of Merlin.
To make sure Alaric noticed him before entering the Underworld, Merlin had even conjured a giant Rafflesia in midair.
And after reuniting with Merlin, Alaric learned how the supposedly vanished Merlin had returned.
It wasn't through a resummoning or anything of the sort, but rather the simplest and most direct method—
He ran out of Avalon himself.
All the way to Mesopotamia.
One had to admit, that Merlin's running speed was truly impressive.
Though Alaric was happy to reunite with Merlin, he also knew what mattered most at this moment.
Tap. Tap.
As if responding to Alaric's thoughts, the Crimson Dragon finally moved. With each step forward, she began to split apart!
Within a few seconds, the number of Crimson Dragons had increased to twelve!
Though only the original Crimson Dragon emitted an overwhelming magical presence, the duplicates still retained Servant-level strength, albeit at a reduced scale.
Having been watching the Crimson Dragon closely, Alaric instinctively launched forward at full speed, while behind him, the Golden King immediately opened the Gate of Babylon!
From the hundreds of golden portals, the projectiles fired were no longer mere staves and wands—they were pure blades, spears, and weapons of war!
At this moment, Gilgamesh's true power was unleashed!
Thousands of Noble Phantasms shot forth from the Gates of Babylon—not just to counter the Crimson Dragon's threat, but more importantly, to prevent the Primordial Goddess from escaping the Underworld!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, Tiamat, who had just begun to take flight, was struck down by the bombardment, unable to leave the Underworld!
"Summon!"
Seeing twelve god-tier Crimson Dragons appear, Fujimaru wasted no time in summoning additional Servants to assist Alaric in battle!
However, to Alaric's surprise, the moment the battle began, the Crimson Dragons burned their own Saint Graphs as fuel, attempting to overwhelm him with absolute force!
Yet, it was useless against Alaric!
At this moment, Alaric was fighting at full power. With Gilgamesh's suppressive fire, he swung the Golden Holy Sword, severing the threads of death of the Crimson Dragons with unparalleled precision!
With Merlin's Flower Magecraft and Tiamat's failed takeoff, the Crimson Dragons had no way to replenish their divine mud.
Not to mention, they had no backup bodies!
With a single swing, the Golden Sword shone brilliantly, soaring through the air with a trail of crimson blood!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Darting across the battlefield, Ishtar unleashed a barrage of gem projectiles, drawing the Crimson Dragons' attention toward herself!
As the battle erupted, Merlin kept his gaze firmly locked on Tiamat, who was still attempting to leave the Underworld.
"With Marduk's Axe, the two goddesses delayed her true form and destroyed the false life. With Enkidu's Chains, Uruk was used as bait to drag her into the Underworld. The Underworld's punishment, along with my seemingly useless flowers—"
Merlin's voice was rapid and heavy as he spoke to the group.
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, you have done well to make it this far through countless trials, but it is still not enough!
She still does not know fear. She does not know her predator. She does not know what it means to die!"
"Look to the sky, O Sea of Origins! Your Death has arrived!"
As Merlin spoke, Gilgamesh immediately looked up. His crimson eyes reflected the image of an old man.
[Aaaaaaaa!]
Seeing the figure clearly, Tiamat let out a thunderous roar.
Standing upon the land, the elderly figure leaned on his sword, his deep gaze fixed upon the Primordial Goddess and the insignificant humans below.
"Without death, there is no life. Through death, life is born. The eternity you seek is not movement, but eternal slumber.
Beast wrought from humanity's sins, the love you yearn for is what denies your very existence."
With a solemn declaration, the King Hass spoke:
"I do not need the title of Grand. My proof of strength lies in this single strike.
Though you have fallen into a Beast, you are still the Mother of Origins.
Thus, I must give you my name—
From the depths of the abyss, from the darkness of death, I am the Old Man of the Mountain—
Hassan-i-Sabbah!"
His cloak fell, revealing the withered old man, surrounded by ghostly flames.
As if she truly sensed the threat, Tiamat opened her dragon's maw, gathering magical energy with a roar.
But it was too late!
In an instant, the assassin leaped forward, crossing the vast distance and reaching Tiamat.
The pinnacle of assassination techniques, an ultimate skill that had reached the domain of the gods.
Burning a Grand Servant-class Saint Graph that even a chief god could bear, this strike was unstoppable—even for the Primordial Goddess!
"The final bell has tolled your name. By the decree of fate, I shall strip you of your wings!"
The proclamation of death exploded in the ears of the Primordial Goddess.
The massive sword did not sever her life—for she was immortal.
But it did sever—
Tiamat's immortality!
Utilizing both the power of the Grand Servant and the pinnacle of assassination techniques, the Old Man of the Mountain forcibly killed even the concept of immortality and imposed the notion of death upon the undying goddess!
Alaric, whose Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were always active, immediately noticed this.
Familiar lines of death spread across Tiamat's seemingly flawless draconic body.
At this moment, Tiamat was no longer an invincible god!
This was an exhilarating realization—if her immortality was removed, then Alaric could finally deal real damage to her.
Not only did Alaric notice this; with Chaldea's observation results relayed, but the other also learned that Tiamat was no longer an immortal being.
Alaric knew this was the perfect moment—
Sensing Alaric's intent, Gilgamesh immediately shifted his firepower, forcefully repelling the crimson dragon beside Alaric, giving him an opening to act.
Without a moment's hesitation, Alaric constructed mechanical wings behind him and, with absolute speed, surpassed Tiamat and reached the surface.
Gazing down at the Primordial Goddess, Alaric tightened his grip on the Holy Lance—
"Holy Lance, declare the end."
For this one time, the Holy Lance, with its altered nature, was momentarily restored to its true form—
The Light of the End.
Since the start of the battle against Tiamat, Alaric had been accumulating power, surpassing even his limits. He had been unable to fire the Holy Lance's Divine Judgment due to an excess of magical energy, forcing him to store it within the lance instead.
And now, at the final moment—
It was no longer a mere imitation, no longer just his end, but the true light of the world's end.
An attack rivaling the Lion King's Holy Judgment!
With this strike, Tiamat would be cast down into the Underworld!
"Rhongomyniad!!"
The brilliant light of the End descended in a straight line as if piercing through the entire Underworld!
But would Tiamat simply await her demise?
The magical energy she had gathered to attack the Old Man of the Mountain was unleashed in an instant!
Pure mana clashed, heat intertwined—it was as if a crimson sun had erupted in this land of death.
Yet, the time she had to act was too short. The magical energy she managed to accumulate could not compare to the true Divine Judgment that Alaric had been storing for hours!
BOOOOM!!!
Even though she deployed Nega Genesis at the last moment—
She was still pierced by the Divine Judgment!
Tiamat, once again falling, was forcefully suppressed by the radiant pillar of light until the pale glow—
Silently bloomed.
The pale light, like an inverted dome, enveloped both the Underworld and Tiamat, directly negating the Divine Judgment's suppression!
"Nega Genesis?!"
As Mash defended against the remnants of the Divine Judgment, Merlin immediately noticed the power Tiamat had invoked.
An Innate Reality Marble, Nega Genesis, capable of overturning existing evolutionary theories and Earth's creation myths—a conceptual barrier that negates past life and seeks to birth new life.
"Ereshkigal!!"
"A vast sea in the heavens...and a prison upon the land... My heel is the wrath of Kur itself! Appear, O scorching shrine! Reflect upon your behavior..!
Kur Kigal Irkalla!!"
Almost simultaneously, recognizing the nature of the barrier, Ereshkigal decisively activated her Noble Phantasm.
With the declaration of its true name, the Scorching Shirine materialized, completely encircling Tiamat and forcefully halting the expansion of Nega Genesis!
But even this was not enough.
Merlin suddenly looked up, gazing into the abyss leading to the surface.
"What's happening, Merlin?!"
Alaric's voice echoed from afar, as he demanded to know what exactly Tiamat's barrier was.
He had never seen it before.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin shouted:
"It's a barrier that only the living can enter! Be careful!"
A falling black star fearlessly plunged into the Reality Marble that denied all past existence!
Inside that barrier, the final crimson dragon awaited Alaric's arrival.
"So, in the end, you still choose to oppose Mother?"
The crimson dragon gazed at Alaric and said, "Only Mother will always be with you—so why?"
Alaric, having already put away the Holy Lance, gripped his golden holy sword, furrowing his brow. He had no interest in conversing with the crimson dragon—he simply swung his sword.
Slash!
The crimson dragon, offering no resistance, turned her head away in defiance, refusing to look at Alaric.
Paying no heed to this, Alaric quickly reached Tiamat, the Primordial Goddess.
Due to the strain caused by forcibly using the Holy Lance earlier, Alaric felt dizzy, as if reliving the vision atop the Tower at the End of the World.
A rejection of his very existence—
Having experienced this before, Alaric endured the rejection, using his highest speed to strike Tiamat's head, which had been immobilized due to maintaining the barrier!
The false holy sword severed the lines of death, bringing death to the Mother of Life!
As the sword fell, the Nega Genesis completely collapsed!
["Why?"]
A faint, sorrowful voice whispered in his ears—the voice of a mother, filled with grief and confusion.
Though death loomed, for her, this was merely another banishment.
But the long-awaited return—ended this way.
Tiamat could not accept it.
"It's because… you don't understand."
Holding his head, Alaric murmured, "Could we ever truly understand each other, Tiamat?
You, the Mother of Them, the one who was abandoned—how do you see me?
If we truly understood each other… we could have moved forward together..."
The emotions in Alaric's heart for Tiamat had never diminished, but precisely because of that, he could not hold back.
Tiamat, who would not abandon her goal, and Alaric, who would not give up on his own—both were the same in this regard.
Tap, tap.
As the barrier dissipated, the still-dizzy Alaric distanced himself from Tiamat.
Yet, at some point, something had appeared in his arms.
Tiamat's words continued to echo in his mind, but Alaric lacked the energy to respond to them one by one. And after he left—
Gilgamesh, who had been watching the scene unfold, grinned.
A golden gate opened before him.
"Then let this strike serve as our farewell ceremony!"
From within the gate, something slowly rose—an object sealed deep within the Treasury of Babylon, the strongest of them all.
It was a weapon resembling a sword, made up of three cylindrical stone slabs rotating in opposite directions.
Each of the three slabs represented Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld, respectively. Their rotations illustrated the world's natural order, and when combined, they symbolized the universe itself.
It was the strongest Noble Phantasm possessed by the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh—regarded as the most powerful weapon humanity could wield!
"Narrate the genesis—when heaven and earth were split, even the void bore witness and offered its blessing. With my Deviant Sword, I shall rend the world asunder!"
"The millstone that grinds the stars, the hell in the heavens—the end before creation's dawn—let your death bring an end to all!"
"Enuma Elish!!"
The rotating sword unleashed an unimaginably violent wind pressure, a force capable of tearing through space itself—an authentic blade that could sever the world!
With the full support of the treasures stored within the Babylonian Treasury, its power reached its peak—strong enough to eradicate even divine entities!
At that moment, the world was torn apart. Amidst the raging wind pressure, Tiamat—the Primordial Goddess already marked for death—was annihilated.
"It's over—"
Leaning against a barren rock, Alaric shook his head, his gaze drifting in confusion toward where the others stood.
Why... was Ereshkigal's Saint Graph vanishing?
Alaric, who had never accepted Ereshkigal's blessing in battle, had no way of knowing this. And at this moment, he lacked the strength to comprehend it.
After a fleeting moment of confusion, he raised the object in his arms.
A golden chalice, infinitely familiar.
At the exact moment he struck Tiamat's death line, she had entrusted him with King Solomon's Holy Grail.
Familiar magical energy pulsed from it, bringing Alaric a faint sense of comfort.
Ah... what a long journey this has been.
Someday, we will come to understand each other, won't we?
He felt no joy in defeating Tiamat. Instead, the only thought in Alaric's mind was whether, if he continued forward into the future, he might meet Tiamat again.
A human and a god, a wanderer and a mother—
Would there ever come a day when they could truly understand each other and walk together?
As that thought filled his heart, Alaric saw it—
The golden chalice in his hands shone brilliantly, a radiance unlike anything he had ever seen before.
The transformation happened far too quickly. Even Gilgamesh, with his ability to foresee the future, could not stop it—let alone Alaric, who had touched the Holy Grail directly.
"Alaric!!"
———
This was a story that took place not long afterward...
When Alaric regained consciousness, a certain familiar middle-aged man stood before him.
The man's military-green attire and hat seemed to fit him perfectly as if they had always belonged to him.
His eyes, perpetually carrying a trace of a smile, narrowed slightly—making it nearly impossible to discern his emotions.
But Alaric could feel it—this man was strong.
He was part of something far greater, something more powerful. That all-too-familiar immortality, that unyielding will to reject death, had once again appeared before Alaric.
Then, the man spoke:
"Knight, my name is Lev Lainur."