Battle for Babylonia: Begin (257)

The towering black waves froze in the apex of its ascend, as if it was contemplating its next move. Seeing that it is actually a living thing, that was not beyond the pale. But, following the force of gravity, it finally crashed forward onto the walls that had until then had surrounded and silently protected the last existing patch of human lands from the invasion of the endless monstrous hordes.

But against Tiamat, no, not even Tiamat herself, but simply a wave of her Black Sea directed by her own will rather than left to act independently of her abstract mind, the walls presented no obstacle.

The black wave of oily liquid crashed against the walls, instantly topping the walls and engulfing the people remaining on them. The instant the black oily liquid that signified the nature of Tiamat and Beast II made contact, every person who came into contact with it was changed.

The worst part wasn't that Tiamat could deal with human armies in moments, many Servants possessed similar abilities. The worst part was that the engulfed people weren't killed.

No, they were instead absorbed and instantly ‘processed’ into much more powerful and much more dangerous forms, becoming enemies of Humanity.

Gilgamesh's order for the Servants to retreat was not because he wanted to throw away the lives of the soldiers on the wall, but to prevent the Servants from falling into Tiamat’s control. Just as the soldiers were transformed into monsters, recreated by Tiamat’s Black Sea into monsters capable of fighting Servants, the Servants are not safe from the danger.

If the Servants themselves had been absorbed by Tiamat's Black Sea, this effect would have been amplified much more, recreating in their place an army of monsters, each of which by itself would be capable of causing a Singularity.

After another moment, the waters of the Black Sea rose again, but rather than advancing as a wave again, this time, when it shot upward, it began to take shape. Coiling into forms of towering black two-meter creatures woven as if from oiled rubber and multiple tentacles, whose mouths, contrary to all biological precepts, rose up to their faces, perpendicular to how they should be positioned on any normal creature.

Neither eyes nor ears were visible on their forms, as they formed into angular and yet simultaneously unnaturally rounded shapes.

However, such monsters did not rise from the just-absorbed humans, no, instead, all of Tiamat's foaming Sea for hundreds of kilometers began to rise up, taking on similar monstrous forms. There was no point in even counting the number of the creatures, hundreds of thousands, perhaps tens of millions, perhaps even billions of such beings rose simultaneously, an endless mass of black rubber flesh. They began shuddering like newborns at the moment of their first breath, looking at the world without eyes before opening their mouths, drawing air into their newly inflating lungs.

Each of these monsters by itself was a being capable of fighting an average Servant, a dozen of them meant that even a Noble Phantasm was not a guarantee of victory, even a crystallized miracle had its limits of possibility.

Such an endless army meant the absolute end of any possible resistance, this couldn't even be called a battle’ as such anymore. Just an endless horde that would sweep away everything in its path and, having absorbed the obstacle, would continue in its way, further.

Just as the Black Sea had previously filled the entire world.

"The Queen sends her army to fight ahead of her? How insulting that a mother sacrifices her children," Gilgamesh's voice spread around the air, and even though he was currently in his palace, in the midst of Uruk, far away from the monsters, the monstrous army raised its face upward. They opened their mouths in an unnatural smile, sharply clicking as if sensing something strange in the air at that moment, trying to catch Gilgamesh's true mood in his words.

"Hmph, as expected, indeed, even Tiamat's Black Sea cannot swallow my legend whole."

After another moment, the walls protecting Gilgamesh's kingdom, protecting the city of Uruk, as if they had been silently waiting for their hour, suddenly began to glow. A huge crack, consisting of pure light, ran through them, suddenly exposing chips in the unbreakable stronghold, which immediately began to crumble down, but not a single monster rejoiced at such a collapse.

Nervous clicks showed that the monsters' confidence, the spark that fell on the prepared ground, became a fire of uncertain fear.

"Gates of Babylon!" Gilgamesh's voice suddenly spread through the air again, and following his command the walls around his kingdom cracked wider, revealing their true nature, "Modified."

The legend of Gilgamesh, the first legend known to mankind, spoke of the great King of all Kings who had conquered the whole world. He was the greatest of heroes and ruled the greatest of kingdoms, he who defeated all monsters before him, and had refused all gods…

And who had collected all the riches that exist in this world.

Every legend could find its roots in the legend of Gilgamesh, every achievement had already been described once in the legend of Gilgamesh, and similarly, every artifact in the world had once been part of his collection. Gilgamesh's treasury, hidden and kept safe behind his Gates of Babylon, was filled with all the riches that exist in this world, an endless collection of priceless artifacts, including the likes of Noble Phantasms, in fact, the strongest forms of them…

And here, Gilgamesh emptied it all.

It was impossible to contain Tiamat's Black Sea with the power of one Servant, and therefore Gilgamesh, the King of Sages and the Sage of all Kings, took a step that he would not have even considered before. He completely emptied his treasury, and from each priceless relic created unbreakable walls protecting his kingdom from the endless pressure of the Mother of All.

Walls capable of withstanding even Tiamat's mind were created from an infinite number of the most priceless treasures. All to protect what remains of Humanity.

But now, when Tiamat had already swallowed Humanity, and struck with all her Black Sea, concentrating it so close to Gilgamesh's own power, there was no longer any point in the walls.

But there was, in the infinite number of relics that made up the walls of Uruk.

Each of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms activated simultaneously; blade or spear, shield or armor, sigil or grimoires, all were activated simultaneously.

Even Gilgamesh doesn't know to what extent his Treasury has expanded, never had he activated all his treasures simultaneously. The only time in his life he exhausted his Gates to the very end, was when he was fighting with Enkidu. And even then, he did not use all his power in a single strike, and therefore even for him, although he would never admit it, it was interesting to see the full power of his own Gates.

However, even the gaze of Gilgamesh, capable of seeing the ‘cause of everything’, or the gaze of Merlin, capable of seeing ‘everything’ as an observer of this world, could not discern the full picture of what was happening at this moment. Every legend, every artifact brought together, in a single attack, simply exceeded the limit of possible observation. As a black hole at some point becomes so absorbing that light ceases to escape its attraction, becoming perfect darkness, so too did Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms, sacrificed in a single attack, cease to be visible to the human eye.

The attack didn't even last a moment, or perhaps the distortion of space was such that an infinite amount of time had collapsed into itself, turning into nothing.

However, a moment later, when the dust finally settled – the world was clean. There were no walls, no monsters, and no more of Tiamat’s Black Sea.

Under any other circumstances, this could be considered the finale, an absolute attack that burned an invincible army, bringing the final victory.

The end of the story.

But a single small drop of Tiamat's Black Sea, preserved inexplicably after such a devastating attack, proved that Gilgamesh’s ultimate attack was ultimately pointless. Almost immediately, the single drop turned to two, then four, until barely taking a moment, the Black Sea covered the land again.

After which a monstrous roar, from which reality itself trembled, spread around.

For Tiamat, this wasn't even an attack.

This time the Black Sea, rather than taking the form of infinite monsters, turned into a singular form. A girl, huge in stature, standing so tall that her head touched the sky. Her hair shimmered with silver and azure, as if the first star that gave birth to everything in this world could not determine what color her hair is. It descended like endless sheets, a part gathered in a single tight braid, and the rest freely falling down, while the Black Sea enveloped her body, gathering as if into a single dress, flowing down her legs.

In her eyes was infinite sorrow and inexpressible maternal love, tainted by pain and the desperate madness of a cornered Beast. But, her most noticeable detail, besides her height, putting her on par with mountains, were the two huge horns emerging from her temples and rising upward before curving downward, curling in spirals. Showing that no creature on earth possessed a similar nature to hers.

Tiamat, mother of all living things, finally opened her eyes.

***

Ainz appeared in the void unexpectedly, this time catching himself in flight even before his body was immersed in the black slime spread around him, looking at the scene before him.

To penetrate the mind of Tiamat herself and defeat her there.

The most insane plan any thinking being could conceive, and Ainz, no matter how many times he doubted his own skills and intelligence, at least did not consider himself a ‘non-thinking being’ or an idiot. And so he was perfectly aware that his plan was neither a product of ‘madness’ nor ‘stupidity’ or something similarly clichéd.

No, it was nothing more than a coincidence. A coincidence in the sense that neither his appearance nor its outcome was a matter of logic or effect following cause. It was an absolute reliance on the fact that an infinite number of coincidences, gathered together, would one day assemble into a single outcome. The probability of which was always infinitely small, but never equal to zero.

It was good that he didn't have to explain his ‘plan’ to anyone — otherwise, they would definitely call it mad.

Therefore, appearing before Tiamat as she was represented in her own mind, Ainz examined her figure. A girl of outstanding height and outstanding proportions, half-absorbed by black slime, whose temples were adorned with two long curling horns going downward, Ainz was even slightly disappointed by her appearance.

No, he couldn't say that the girl looked bad or wasn't attractive, but he expected to see something monstrous, when he thinks of someone that is called the ‘Mother of Monsters. Not necessarily horrific, but in Yggdrasil, monsters rarely looked like something attractive, the Devs seemingly allergic to creating attractive monsters. That is, of course, unless the Monster in question were custom NPCs whose appearance could be customized by Players within broad limits.

Or, perhaps, this instead indicated that Tiamat perceived herself in her mind exactly as a human, differing from others only in height and a pair of horns? After all, Enkidu and Kingu also represented two sides of his personality and therefore barely differed from each other in his mind.

Perhaps for Tiamat, she thinks of herself as just ‘a little more than just a human’?

Nevertheless, regardless of the answer, Ainz continued to hover in the air, watching, as Tiamat very slowly, as if after a long restless sleep, began to open her eyes, moving it around, barely understanding where she was at the moment.

Sadly, Ainz cannot afford to be courteous.

"I apologize, but at this moment I'm not going to wait until you fully awaken," Ainz spoke, but his words seemed to stretch like syrup, unable to flow into the ears of Tiamat herself, who didn't understand her condition, while Ainz had already extended his hand forward.

"[Napalm]."

***

No one was going to give Tiamat any time to rest or survey her surroundings after her appearance in reality.

Magic, arrows, lightning, fire, wind – any and every projectile crashed into her form, having barely risen from her Black Sea. All to no effect.

Tiamat didn't even notice the bright flashes and the swaying of foliage around her, instead slowly surveying her surroundings, not understanding where she had ended up at the moment. Even the strongest attack of Servants, barring their Noble Phantasms, expectedly, had no effect on Tiamat – to such an extent that it was easier to say that there were no attacks against her at all. Just as there was no reaction from Tiamat to them.

Only for some barely noticeable moment did Tiamat seem to feel something before returning to a state of absolute passivity – passivity that needed to be interrupted by any means. As with every moment that Tiamat is present, Humanity dies.

"Om Alolik Svaha - Mantra of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara!" Tomoe's voice didn't reach Tiamat's mind either.

The Noble Phantasm of the repentant sinner, Tomoe Gozen, her only regret in her entire life.

A Servant and samurai in service to her own husband, Tomoe did not participate in the final battle alongside her husband and did not meet death shoulder to shoulder with him. She did not lay down her life for him, as she once swore to herself. The main transgression of her entire life.

One could say that her husband convinced her to refuse the final battle, pregnant with his offspring, Tomoe should not have met death. Instead, she would be bringing new life into this world.

But for Tomoe herself, this was nothing more than an excuse.

It was her own weakness, which she allowed only once in her life. Cowardice in the face of death, which became the unquenchable flame of her regret forever.

And Tomoe could not hesitate to show this flame in the world around her.

Tomoe's hands were engulfed in flames, burning her hands and causing her skin to blister from the strain, a sign of her regret and the power invested in her strike. The arrow placed on the bowstring of her bow also caught fire, burning away a moment later – instead of an arrow, pure flame was now placed on the string of her bow.

Flame, which she, a moment later, let loose towards Tiamat.

The Small Sun of her regret struck Tiamat and achieved the greatest reaction of all the previous attacks.

Tiamat paused for a moment, still absolutely unharmed, as if trying to understand whether something had just happened in her field of vision, or if it just seemed that way to her.

But this moment proved enough for Gilgamesh, "Enkidu!"

A small golden portal, leading inside the still emptied treasury, opened again, revealing one of those rare things that he did not sacrifice in creating the walls around Babylon. How could he sacrifice something that he named in honor of his only friend?

Enkidu, the heavenly chains that so strongly resemble Enkidu's own, struck forward from the golden portal. After all, it was obtained by Gilgamesh from his only friend and named in his honor, its external similarity was no coincidence.

However, the difference lay in its action and ability.

Certainly, Gilgamesh could use it like Enkidu himself does, for attacks, the effectiveness of that in Gilgamesh's execution would be significantly inferior to Enkidu himself, yes, but for many Servants even that would be enough. However, unlike Enkidu's chains, Gilgamesh preferred to use it differently.

After all, using Enkidu for attacking was like taking a heavy machine gun – and using it as a club.

The golden chain struck forward, stretching to its full length, after which it began to entwine around the huge figure of Tiamat, tightening in tight coils around her body, before ending on her head, wrapping around her horns. Fulfilling its purpose, wrapping Tiamat as tightly as possible, to trap her.

Enkidu, the divine puppet, was created itself as a chain that was supposed to break Gilgamesh. Enkidu was born to once again shackle the World of the Divine moving toward sunset and impede the World of Humanity that was beginning to gain strength. The perfect weapon against Gilgamesh, who carried two-thirds divine nature and only one-third human.

Gilgamesh's own chain was not named after his friend for nothing.

The golden chain of Enkidu was a chain created as Gilgamesh's pure hatred and at the same time an homage to his friend, which was supposed to ‘bind’ the two worlds together again, except twisted by cruel irony, in the spirit of Gilgamesh himself. Enkidu was a chain that bound its enemy, becoming stronger, the more Divine the nature of its opponent. This did not mean that an ordinary human could easily escape from its embrace, no, Enkidu could still break an ordinary person and turn them into bloody scraps thanks to its power. But, heroes, monsters, and Servants endowed with divinity were much stronger than ordinary people.

Even when Enkidu was a divine chain, relying solely on its own strength against such beings would be a decision too rash even for Gilgamesh. And so, it became, that his chain became stronger and more durable the closer his opponent was to the nature of the Divine.

And Tiamat, the source of all Divinity, might as well be the number one target for the artifact.

Tiamat froze, compressed from all sides by the chain.

If Gilgamesh's opponent had been a Servant embodied as a Deity, then the battle would have ended there, the Chains of Heaven would have bound them with chains that would never let go. Even if a Divine Spirit would not be able to so easily disentangle themselves from these chains.

But Gilgamesh's opponent was Tiamat, and so a moment after Enkidu bound Tiamat, the chain began to tremble from strain, its golden links plaintively creaking from the effort.

Tiamat was the source of the Divine, in other words, Enkidu would never find a more perfect target for its effect, in the current conditions, Tiamat was the perfect target for Enkidu.

Sadly, that was not all that Tiamat is – besides being the source of all Divine on earth, Tiamat was Tiamat. And that quality explained everything much better than any other explanation.

Gilgamesh didn't even have a second, as his golden chain began to crumble even before it completely wrapped around the figure of the Primordial Mother – but Gilgamesh had a moment.

And that in itself was a moment more than Gilgamesh had calculated.

"Melammu Dingir!" Gilgamesh's voice echoed across his lands, and another of his Noble Phantasm took effect.

Gilgamesh had gone through different stories throughout his life. He was the most charming of children, he was a tyrant without equal, he was a grieving beggar, and he’s the king of sages. All legends traced back to him, all artifacts originated from his treasury, and therefore Gilgamesh was in a unique position relative to all other Servants – as befitted someone of his status.

Gilgamesh could be summoned in any class.

However, despite this, Gilgamesh, strangely enough, could not be a Caster.

To be even more precise and make the situation even stranger than it already is – Gilgamesh was suited for the role of Caster better than all other Casters. Potentially, he could be more than just a Caster, he was one of those who could even become a Grand Caster.

And yet Gilgamesh did not possess Magecraft by himself.

Having become a great sage and king, who would remain the first and greatest king in human history, Gilgamesh had obtained all earthly secrets, just as he once obtained all earthly treasures, and his mind, capable of seeing the ‘origin’ of any event, pierced all the secrets of magical world.

Yet Gilgamesh himself never acquired magical talent.

If he were to become a true Caster, a Grand Caster, he would be the most suitable for the Class thanks to his gaze, capable of seeing the essence of everything in this world. The ability to ‘know everything' made him a greater Caster than any magus who followed after him, excluding a couple of special exceptions.

However, Gilgamesh did not possess magecraft in himself.

The reason why Gilgamesh could still exist in the Caster class was, however, not only that he possessed an ability so close to omniscience, but also that as a Caster he embodied the ‘wisdom’ of the Age of Gods, the era when humans first created eternal cities. He is the King of a civilization that once engulfed the entire world, and the wisdom of those people who first created writing, built houses, and calculated the movement of celestial bodies…

Gilgamesh is a Caster, because in his treasury Gilgamesh preserved all artifacts of this world – including magical grimoires, staffs, and writings full of the first magecraft cast by human hands on this earth.

Melammu Dingir combined these two qualities – the wisdom of humanity and magecraft preserved in Gilgamesh's Gates of Babylon.

The first city, Uruk, and all the people living in it, all of Gilgamesh's kingdom, every soldier under his command, and all the riches and knowledge of humanity that would one day conquer this world, rejecting all gods.

All this was Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm.

His city, Uruk, momentarily flashed with hundreds of lights, Gilgamesh's own magical codes, which were given for the creation of his kingdom, merged with the nature of all the people who stood behind Gilgamesh. All for one strike.

Relative to the entire depleted treasury of the great king, this attack was certainly weaker, but this was expected. Even the entire nature of Humanity could not hide the gaping hole in Gilgamesh's depleted treasury, but this was expected. And if it was expected, it meant that Gilgamesh was ready.

"Rhongomyniad!" Alturia followed after Gilgamesh's attack, and the spear, embodying all the magic of the Reverse Side of the World, followed Gilgamesh's own attack, crashing into Tiamat's body, right in her heart.

A moment later, Enkidu's golden chain completely snapped, freeing Tiamat, and Mash reacted instantly. "Lord Camelot!"

The stone castle that instantly appeared covered and defended all the Servants, but as Tiamat's hand crashed into its walls, the unbreakable shield trembled.

This wasn't an attack with Tiamat intending to kill her opponent, nor was it a special ability. Tiamat wasn't using her full powers, nor did she have any desire to destroy her opponent – it could only be called a ‘swat’. Like a person swatting away an annoying mosquito while being immersed in their thoughts, not even noticing the mosquito's fervent attempt to kill them.

The hand that crashed into Camelot instantly swept away the stone walls around it, and Mash herself realized she was dying at that moment. The force of the impact was such that her shield couldn't save her, Tiamat’s blow went beyond her defenses, and even if Mash's shield withstood the impact, her body absolutely could not.

Even if her protection absorbed ninety-nine hundredths and nine hundred ninety-nine thousandths of a percent of Tiamat's attack power, one thousandth of Tiamat’s blow was absolutely enough to erase Mash from history.

"Garden of Avalon," Merlin's voice seemed so soft, incongruous to the shouts of the battlefield. His voice carried the feeling of a new dawn rising on earth, that, finally, the long night that had been over the land had finally passed.

The flowers that rose from the ground seemed to be the only reason why nothing bad could happen on this earth, and the fairy tale ended with the words ‘and they lived happily ever after’.

It was the Everdistant Utopia gracing the world of Humanity.

Unlike Gilgamesh, Merlin possessed magecraft of indescribable power, a talent that came to him as an inheritance of his nature. Unlike Gilgamesh, Merlin's Noble Phantasm had nothing to do with magic.

Merlin was the only prisoner and at the same time the eternal guardian of Avalon. One who, being imprisoned forever in his tower, saw his small room not as a prison, but as an endless utopia, where Merlin could exist infinitely long. Outside all times and outside any space.

The Garden of Avalon was an eternal utopia. Perhaps it wasn't so difficult to imagine it as Paradise for an ordinary person, but instead of a place of reward and eternal bliss, Avalon remained an infinitely distant utopia that no human could ever reach. The last place where the magic of the whole world was still alive.

Even Merlin couldn't give the path to Avalon to any living person, only Arthur, the last bearer of Humanity's Last Phantasm, and Bedivere, who kept it, were able to reach Avalon in the last moments of their lives. There was no longer a path to Avalon.

But if no one could reach Avalon – then Merlin could bring Avalon with him.

Mash's body, which had begun to collapse from the force of the impact from Tiamat’s fist, was instantly embraced by Merlin's utopia, and all the wounds on her body instantly ceased to be. Avalon was a utopia where death and pain were never-existing concepts, where there were no battles and defeats, and so Tiamat's blow stopped for a moment.

For a singular moment, the inexorable force that is Tiamat was stopped. But for how long?

Could Tiamat break the foundations of Avalon? The utopia of Avalon was an immutable truth of the world, one of the eternal laws of existence – but so was Tiamat herself. Tiamat’s level of existence was even higher, as the Primordial Mother she defined the laws of biology and gave form to all living things – in other words, she gave birth to those laws, including those that created Avalon itself.

But Tiamat didn't try to strike with her full power.

Instead, her attempt to hit was merely a backhand that, after withstanding a moment of contact, simply tore Mash and Alturia who stood beside her away, sending them hundreds, perhaps thousands of kilometers away. The Gardens of Avalon would save them from death, but the force of the blow would still throw them to the other side of the planet.

Gilgamesh didn't even pay attention to this, both Mash and Alturia had played their role, now it is his time to act.

Taking a step forward, he grinned the most daring of all smiles, as if his very best hadn’t done anything to the Primordial Mother. "Finally we have your attention, Tiamat!"

It is a stark change from before, where the giant simply looked at nothing and moved as if by instinct. Gathering her attention for the first time, Tiamat turned her face and looked, not through, but directly at Gilgamesh and the Servants gathered around him. For the first time, looking not through them, but directly at them.

Gilgamesh's grin became even more insolent a moment later when his gaze caught the picture before his eyes.

There, where Rhongomyniad had touched Tiamat's body, above her heart, two millimeters in length, he saw a crack – a chip.

Proof that Tiamat could be defeated.

Proof that Tiamat WILL be defeated.