Countless Noble Phantasms fell like a rain of light, slamming mercilessly into Tiamat. One after another, they immediately triggered their own phantasm breaks—detonations stacking into a rolling chain of violent explosions. At the same time, the Dingir stationed along the surrounding walls kept pouring out fire, blasting the Mother Goddess of Creation back step by step.
As for the two unlucky Demon God Pillars, they'd been ground to dust long ago.
"I've been wanting to ask for a while now… Is your mana actually infinite?"
Dr. Romani complained weakly.
Ophis didn't answer. She dropped onto the temple roof and panted for breath.
"Little Ophis… are you okay?"
Ritsuka stepped closer, worry tight in her voice.
Ophis shook her head—then shoved Ritsuka out of the way.
A red beam sliced through the space where she'd been standing.
Frowning, Ophis swept her right hand. A colossal greatsword—nearly a hundred meters long—rose from the golden ripples, then slammed down at the Mother Goddess of Creation.
Even Tiamat was forced back several steps by the sheer mass of that mountain-cleaving blade… but Ophis didn't dare trigger its phantasm break. If she did, she really could blow all of Uruk to pieces.
Still, with her body on the verge of collapse, opening that many gates—and holding them for a full hour—had pushed Ophis past her limit.
But it was enough.
A white shadow alighted softly beside Ophis, and their eyes met for an instant.
Sorry I'm late. Leave the rest to me.
With that conveyed in her gaze, Enkidu leapt forward without the slightest hesitation.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa——!"
As if sensing something, Tiamat shrieked. The surge of mana slammed into the temple and rocked it violently. Ritsuka and the others were blown away, their consciousness snuffed out on impact—only Ophis remained where she stood, her whole body shedding drifting motes of light, so insubstantial she looked half-unreal.
This wasn't phasing.
Her very existence was coming apart.
And there was one more person who wasn't affected in the slightest.
Enkidu hung in the air, looking down at the Mother Goddess. Her gaze sharpened by the second.
"An hour, huh… That really is a harsh trial. Even at my peak, I couldn't have done something like that. But a weapon's duty is not to disappoint its Master, and…"
She touched her warming heart, then smiled gently.
"I can't let you keep destroying things, Mother."
"ENKIDU, FRIEND OF OPHIS, WILL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF THE CHAINS OF HEAVEN!"
"NOW I WILL AWAKEN THE BREATH OF THE PLANET—"
"[ENUMA ELISH]!!!"
O' HUMANS, LET US RESTRAIN THE GODS
...
For a full hour, the Chains of Heaven bound Tiamat.
Not slowing her. Not halting her steps.
Binding her—truly binding her—for an hour.
In other words, if Ophis still had the strength, she could've erased the defenseless Tiamat a thousand, ten thousand times over in that hour… though of course, she still wouldn't have been able to kill her in the end.
That result already far exceeded what Enkidu should have been capable of.
But even that had its limit.
"Kin… gu…"
Whether it was real or not, Tiamat seemed—perhaps for the first time—to speak words humans could understand.
And then the Chains of Heaven shattered.
Enkidu died.
Ophis only watched in silence.
"…Phase shift complete. Next, all we need is to open the passage to the Underworld."
Ereshkigal's voice came through the Underworld Mirror.
"Ishtar. It's on you," Ophis said flatly.
"King Ophis."
Siduri—awake first—walked slowly to stand behind her. She parted her lips, but no words came.
"Hey. You bastard. Is this really okay?"
Ishtar's voice, however, came down through telepathy, blunt as ever.
"Isn't this the perfect ending? A hero-shaped exclamation point—brave enough that no one could ever forget it."
Ophis smiled faintly and shook her head.
"If something exists, there will come a day when it perishes. There's no need to grieve it. An end is also a beginning—and besides, the brilliance she left behind was dazzling enough."
As she spoke, Ophis looked toward Siduri, and toward Ritsuka and the others as they began to wake.
"The world corrects itself. Anyone who dies inside a Singularity won't be revived after it disappears. Things have come this far—there's no doubt the Fifth Generation's kingship of Uruk can't continue. But the Sixth Generation will carry Mesopotamian civilization onward. Even if Mesopotamian civilization itself collapses, the age of humanity won't end. It'll only shine brighter, won't it?"
With Tiamat drawing closer and closer, Ophis spoke quietly.
"Ophis…"
Facing Ritsuka, Ophis smiled softly.
"Yes. I should thank you as well, Master of Chaldea. Thanks to you, many things became much easier. And now—defeating Tiamat depends on you."
"Huh?"
Ritsuka blinked, then scratched the back of her head, embarrassed.
"No, honestly, I don't think I helped at all in this Singularity. But… if Ophis says so, then I'll take her on!"
By the end, that familiar resolve had returned to Ritsuka's face.
Ophis nodded.
"Is that so… Then I entrust victory and defeat to you, fellow traveler from another land—just like me."
"Huh?"
Ignoring the confusion on Ritsuka's face, Ophis lifted her gaze to the sky.
"At the end… we'll bring the Fifth Generation to a complete close. Ishtar."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it! Just like you asked—I'll open a huge hole right under your feet, no holding back! This is your goddess going all-out for the first time in ages, so you'd better take it properly!"
"GATE OPEN!"
"THIS IS ALL OF MY POWER!"
"FROM THE GREAT HEAVENS, TOWARDS THE GREAT EARTH!"
"THE FUTURE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF."
"[AN GAL TA KI GAL ŠE]!!"
"King Ophis!"
Siduri lurched forward in panic, but Ophis pressed a hand to her chest and stopped her.
"Siduri. You'll witness the end of Uruk for me."
"King Ophis!"
Ignoring Siduri's cries, Ophis used her last strength to send her away. Then she turned to the Mother Goddess of Creation, now only a single step from her.
"Beast II is right in front of us—it's already crossed over! King Ophis, evade!"
"No. There's no need."
Ophis looked up.
Scorching golden light blazed directly above the temple.
[Even the King of Heroes is still a hero in the end, huh? Figures, heroes never get happy endings.]
In Ophis's mind, Inori—awake on her own for once—let out a quiet sigh.
The next instant, Venus's radiance slammed down like a hammer.
"So… does that mean I'm giving Ishtar first blood?"
Suddenly, Ophis tilted her head. But before she could spare a thought for such a trivial question, the bombardment swallowed her and Tiamat alike—then punched straight through the boundary between the human world and the Underworld.
---
T/N: NOOOOOOOO OPHIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fuck this is a perfect cliff spot