"Rumbleeeeeee————!!!"
Outside of Uruk, a scene like the very end of the world unfolded—heaven and earth shattering, thunderous roars shaking the land.
The twelve Beast Vassals charged toward Tiamat one after another, unleashing their powers without restraint.
Mesarthim Adamas raised its jeweled barrier, reflecting the surging black tide back in full.
Cor Tauri Succinum swung its blazing war axe, splitting the earth apart. From the shattered ground burst countless mountain-sized pillars of stone, all smashing toward Tiamat.
Al Meissa Mercury lunged to bite at Tiamat, tearing off chunk after chunk of her flesh with relentless gnashing.
Natra Cinereus exhaled thick clouds of mist, turning the very ground around Tiamat to vapor and causing her to plummet into a massive pit.
Regulus Aurum, Kiffa Ater, Shaula Viola, Alnasl Minium, and Sadalmelik Albus seized the opening, striking together—one with ten thousand bolts of thunder crashing down, another descending like a meteor to smash upon her, another spewing clouds of lethal miasma, another blasting stormlike shockwaves, and yet another hurling torrents of water as a weapon.
Minelauva Iris and Dabih Kryastalos would not be outdone—one slashed with her sword again and again, slicing into Tiamat's enormous frame, while the other invoked her charm, enslaving Laḫmu and turning them against their own goddess.
Even Alrescha Glacies refused to lag behind, floating in midair and summoning blizzards one after another, burying Tiamat under endless storms of ice.
Thus, the twelve Beast Vassals unleashed their terrifying powers—force enough to slay gods—battering Tiamat again and again, forcing cries of pain from her throat.
But tragically, even so, Tiamat took little real damage.
For though each Beast Vassal had its own fearsome ability—Al Meissa Mercury's dimensional devouring could consume even space, Sadalmelik Albus's waters could rewind time itself, and Minelauva Iris's blade could sever the very law of causality—against any other divine being, such powers would guarantee death.
But Tiamat was no ordinary foe.
As the Primordial Mother, the Creator Goddess, as long as a single human remained alive upon the earth, she held no concept of death—she would never perish. And she bore skills of overwhelming resistance.
Independent Manifestation rendered her immune to instant death effects and time-based assaults.
Self-Modification allowed her to freely alter her Saint Graph, nullifying any attack below A++ rank.
Sea of Life supplied her with inexhaustible mana.
Nega-Genesis unfolded a conceptual barrier, resisting everything within proper human history, barring all non-living beings from approaching.
Against such abilities, even the twelve Beast Vassals' might could not kill her.
Thus, though she howled in pain, none of the damage proved fatal. Even torn flesh was instantly restored by the black mud; the waters that returned all things to origin failed against her; even a blade that cut causality itself could not sever her bonds to existence.
"So it really won't work…?"
Rozen clicked his tongue at the sight.
By now, all of his mana had been refined into High-Grade Mana, his full strength unleashed.
Originally, Rozen had hoped to achieve something greater—for example, using Minelauva Iris's sword to sever Tiamat's causality, disconnecting her from the earth and its life, breaking the chain of "so long as humanity endures, she endures."
But Nega-Genesis resisted even the Beast Vassals' powers, heavily suppressing their force.
Though the Beast Vassals were not Servants, and though Rozen had restored their human forms, making them arguably "living beings," Nega-Genesis could not be fooled so easily.
As beings outside of this world's human history, they too were unreasonably rejected by its conceptual barrier.
Rozen understood: unless he himself acted, as a true human, to face Tiamat, even his familiars—who shared his very soul—would be excluded by Anti-Genesis.
Concepts were concepts: unless the conditions of the concept were met, there was no escape.
To approach Tiamat, one had to be human. One had to be alive.
Rozen's familiars were nothing but recorded fragments of his soul, given form as materialized mana—the same existence type as Servants. They could not bypass the conceptual barrier.
He had even summoned Hokuto and the Injunction Shackles. Hokuto had taken the form of a colossal divine dragon, roaring as it exhaled a freezing breath toward Tiamat, while the Injunction Shackles manifested as colossal chains, thick enough to bind mountains, wrapping tightly around her body. Yet even then, no decisive damage was dealt.
Tiamat roared ceaselessly, each motion of her hands and feet scattering Beast Vassals one after another. Alone, she held back a storm of attacks that could have sundered the world.
Still, while there was no massive damage, smaller wounds were constant.
Looking closely, one could see Rozen's right arm glowing with the complex sigils of his Magic Crest.
This radiance flowed into each of the Beast Vassals, granting their strikes the same destructive trait as Altera's annihilation—allowing their attacks to wound Tiamat for real.
Rozen had used Cleansing to mimic Altera's destructive power, then bestowed it upon his Beast Vassals.
After all, Cleansing was originally a supreme curse meant to alter the world itself—naturally a spell with inherent anti-world properties.
By channeling High-Grade Mana, Rozen could reproduce Altera's power and infuse it into his familiars.
Of course, imitation was still only imitation. The effect was weaker than Altera's true might.
Without Foreign Mana, Cleansing could never achieve its true, omnipotent form. With only High-Grade Mana, the spell still fell short of its full power.
As it stood, Cleansing could slay gods—but against something far stronger, it was lacking.
Altera seemed to recognize this as well, knowing her own strength remained the key. She relentlessly drew more High-Grade Mana from Rozen, raising the Sword of the War God high.
"Noble Phantasm—unleash."
As Altera whispered, the sky itself began to churn.