"————"
When Tiamat's gaze fixed on Rozen, the very air around seemed to solidify, the atmosphere turning unbearably heavy and oppressive.
The sense of crisis within Rozen spiked instantly.
His feathered cloak stirred without wind, billowing forward like a mantle, shielding him.
The next second—
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!!"
That familiar song burst from the goddess below.
Rozen had heard this voice before, when observing the Black Sea with Mind's Eye.
But only now, faced with it directly, did he understand just how vicious it truly was.
"Boom!!!"
The song transformed into waves of sound, erupting like a storm, shaking the air itself.
The sea surged in crashing layers, the shockwaves battering toward Rozen and Ishtar.
"Ugh!"
"Wha…!?"
Caught off guard, both Rozen and Ishtar were blown back as though struck by a raging typhoon.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!!"
Tiamat's voice did not stop, unleashing wave after wave of sound and sea, the sheer force terrifying.
In an instant, the entire ocean was as if seized by a tempest, boiling with violent waves.
"You've got to be kidding!?"
Ishtar soared higher into the sky, dodging the onslaught, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Her voice alone can cause such massive physical phenomena!?"
"This is way too strong!"
"So… this is the Beast of Original Sin…?"
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman, watching from Chaldea, trembled at the sight.
Only Rozen, rising into the air alongside Ishtar, frowned deeply at Tiamat.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!!"
Still she sang.
Yet Rozen, for some reason, heard within that overwhelming voice a thread of sorrow.
Recalling the ceaseless weeping he had heard through Mind's Eye while gazing into the Black Sea, his eyes flickered.
Then Tiamat ceased her song. But her gaze—never once—had left Rozen.
"Why is she looking only at you?"
Ishtar exhaled, both bewildered and suspicious, glancing between Rozen and Tiamat.
Rozen thought a moment, then spoke.
"Perhaps she realized it was me who had been watching her slumber through Mind's Eye."
But no—that wasn't all.
"She's also sensed that, in this age, there exists a mana source greater than herself. Instinctively, she's rejecting my approach."
So Rozen believed.
But was it out of fear? Did she see him as a threat?
He couldn't be sure.
If so, she should have already acted.
Now, though she had clearly noticed him, though her eyes were locked on his, she made no move, doing nothing—only watching. It was far too strange.
"By all rights, having finally returned to this world, she should be following instinct—slaughtering mankind. So why remain here, silent upon the sea, forbidding all approach?"
This puzzled Rozen.
But the answer wasn't hard to guess.
"Could it be those restraints?"
His eyes went to the bindings on her body.
"Are they some kind of seal?"
The thought crossed his mind.
After all, Tiamat had been banished by the world and the gods to the Imaginary Numbers space.
To ensure it worked, they might have sealed her as insurance, preventing her return and protecting the surface.
Rozen locked eyes with Tiamat, trying to read something from them.
But he failed.
Her eyes were devoid of emotion, as innocent as those of a harmless beast, silently gazing at him.
Ishtar looked from Rozen to Tiamat, then shook her head.
"So, what now?"
The question was immediately answered from Chaldea.
"What else?"
"Of course we should strike her down now!"
Roman and Da Vinci spoke without hesitation.
"She's not moving, and there's some kind of sealing mechanism at work. She can barely move at all—this is our chance!"
Olga Marie shouted anxiously, meaning clear: Rozen must seize this moment and destroy her.
"I don't mind either way."
Ishtar shrugged, unconcerned.
But she didn't act. Instead, she turned to Rozen.
"Master, what's your call?"
Though she asked lightly, the weight fell on him.
Rozen, too, knew this was an opportunity.
And yet, as the saying goes, 'what's abnormal hides danger.'
A Beast, a threat to mankind itself, wouldn't be so easily defeated just because the chance presented itself.
Moreover, he felt something lurking in the sea beneath Tiamat.
He tried peering deeper with Mind's Eye. But the Black Sea, filled with cursed mana, was too foul. Its negative emotions flooded toward him in madness-inducing waves.
The shock alone rattled his mind, forcing him to withdraw.
So Rozen said nothing, only holding Tiamat's gaze.
After a time, he made a decision.
"Ishtar, stay here. I'll go down."
He gave the order, then plunged from the sky, streaking toward Tiamat.
"Hey!"
Ishtar tried to stop him, but failed.
"Wait!"
"Ro—Rozen…!?"
"What are you doing!?"
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman cried out in alarm.
But Rozen ignored them, flying straight into Tiamat's gaze.
She watched him approach clearly.
And then—
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa————!!!"
Tiamat sang again. Storms surged, waves rose, the world shook.
But this time, Rozen pressed on regardless. Shielded by Kinu, his body trailed a stream of blazing sparks as he cut through the tempest, descending upon Tiamat.
Her song rose higher and higher, louder and louder, storms and seas more frenzied.
But still Rozen pushed forward.
And shockingly, from beginning to end, Tiamat never once attacked him. She only sang.
Until, at last, Rozen stood before her.
"————"
The song stopped.
"Hah…"
Rozen exhaled softly, lifting his head to meet the goddess's gaze.
The two stared at one another—barely a meter apart.
Even now, Tiamat did not strike. She made no move.
Only gazed upon Rozen, silent.
And in her eyes, faintly—Sadness.
Longing.