(The scene continues within the majestic, bustling walls of Uruk)
Here, within the heart of ancient Mesopotamia, they finally stood before the King himself—Gilgamesh, the legendary tyrant of Uruk, whose name was synonymous with ancient and cruel power.
[But the reality was completely different.]
Gone was the indolent king observing the stars. Before them sat a ruler buried under mountains of clay tablets, his fingers stained with ink, barking orders to scribes and officials with a focused, relentless energy. This was not a decadent monarch; he was the ultimate model worker, the administrative engine single-handedly holding his kingdom together against divine annihilation.
Their mission was clear: to break the alliance of the three goddesses threatening humanity. And they had already encountered one—the fierce and unpredictable Ishtar, the Goddess of Venus.
Fuyuki City.
Elsewhere, a certain crimson-clad Archer watching the screen couldn't help but facepalm and let out a long, weary sigh. This woman... she finally went completely off the deep end.
The Tohsaka Rin beside him shot him a deeply resentful look, her cheeks puffing out. "What are you sighing about?! That's not me, you idiot!" she complained, though a hint of horrified fascination remained in her eyes.
[The screen returns to the desperate battle]
Their journey led them to a confrontation with the source of the monstrous tide: the Mother of Monsters, the Beast Goddess.
[In order to help Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others escape, the heroic spirit Ushiwakamaru personally stayed behind to hold the line...]
Ushiwakamaru stood her ground against the colossal, terrifying form of the goddess. She tilted her head up, a defiant smirk on her face despite the overwhelming odds.
[Your enormous body is nothing but a hindrance!]
The Beast Goddess, Gorgon, responded with pure, unadulterated malice. The eleven monstrous snake heads sprouting from her back writhed, their maws opening to release devastating beams of purple energy. The air itself vibrated with power, everything around her was being atomized, and the earth ignited into a sea of fire.
[The Pilgrimage of the Five-Ringed Sword - Second Stage:]
[Bolu · The Heavenly Being Withdraws!]
Ushiwakamaru became a blur of motion, a dancing phantom weaving between the destructive blasts. The sword in her hand glowed with a fierce crimson light, its energy extending like a lance aimed at the goddess's core.
[Watch me pierce your eye!] she cried, a battle shout filled with desperate courage.
But the next moment, the ground before her erupted. Another massive snake head, a twelfth she hadn't accounted for, burst from the earth right in front of Fujimaru's fleeing group.
The serpent heads unleashed their terrible energy indiscriminately. The mighty walls of Uruk, which had held for so long, vaporized in an instant.
[Ushiwakamaru!] Ritsuka screamed.
Their horror was compounded as they saw Ushiwakamaru herself—impaled in the jaws of another snake head, her body limp, blood dripping from the deep punctures. The beast contemptuously tossed her broken form aside, and she crashed to the petrified ground, bruised and motionless.
Gorgon looked down upon the tiny humans, her voice a chilling, emotionless decree that echoed across the blasted landscape:
[I will kill every last one of you humans... Even if only one remains in the end... I will slaughter them too!]
The gap in power was absolute. Even Heroic Spirits seemed fragile, insignificant before the wrath of a true deity. A wave of crushing despair and fear threatened to swallow their hearts whole.
Pirate World, Mariejois.
In the holy land of the Celestial Dragons, now heavily guarded by senior marine officials to prevent the increasingly rebellious world from turning on them, the pampered nobles watched the screen.
"Yes! Kill them! Kill these humans for daring to resist a god!" an dragon shrieked, his voice a mixture of frenzy and fear, seeing a kindred spirit in the monstrous goddess. Their cries, however, fell on the deaf ears of the guards, who looked on with stoic, unreadable expressions.
One Punch Man World.
Saitama, now living a life of well-stocked leisure, glanced at the screen between snacks. The only thing that could pique his interest now was the appearance of a truly strong opponent.
"Teacher, this 'Mother of Monsters' is incredibly powerful!" Genos analyzed, his mechanical eyes whirring as he assessed the destructive energy on display.
Saitama just scratched his nose. "Hmm." There was no discernible fluctuation in his interest.
[Back in the Singularity]
Just as all hope seemed lost, as the shadow of Gorgon fell over them, a mighty crash came from behind. The great iron gates of a secondary fortification were thrown open, and from within emerged an aura of pure, unyielding masculinity.
It was Leonidas I and his three hundred Spartan warriors.
[The sacrifice of Lord Ushiwakamaru... the sacrifice of my soldiers...] his voice boomed, thick with grief and unwavering resolve. [It will never be in vain!]
[Leave the rest to me, without question!]
The three hundred warriors behind him slammed their shields together, their eyes burning with determination and high morale. They would advance bravely and fearlessly, even against a god. These were Spartans!
[Come and get them if you can!] Leonidas roared, a challenge to the heavens.
The soldiers bent into formation, raising their shields above their heads in a testudo, while others prepared to hurl their long spears.
[What use are mere soldiers?!] Gorgon sneered, her voice dripping with divine contempt. Mere spears were nothing to her.
[Now, my comrades!] Leonidas bellowed.
[—Thermopylae Enomotia!]
Their shields began to glow a fierce, brilliant red, their collective will and legend manifesting into a colossal, shimmering phalanx wall—a solid fortress of light tens of meters high!
[Turn to stone!] Gorgon shrieked.
The magical eyes embedded in her snake hair activated, shooting beams of dark red petrifying light. They struck the glowing red shield...
...and were deflected, scattering harmlessly into the sky.
[How can this be?!] Gorgon recoiled, genuine shock in her voice.
[He deflected my mystic eyes...]
[Who are you?!]
Leonidas's helmet shattered away, revealing his resolute, battle-hardened face and eyes filled with an iron will.
[My ancestor is the great hero Hercules!]
[The son of the great god Zeus himself!]
[I am the king of a kingdom once blessed by Ares, the god of war!]
[I am the King of Sparta! Leonidas!!!]
He had seen through her.
[I've seen through your true identity, Avenger!]
[I've never heard of Tiamat possessing a Mystic Eye!]
[And there is no need to mention the evil-eyed snake goddess who can turn men to stone!]
The relentless barrage from the mystic eyes finally began to erode the magnificent shield. Cracks spread like spiderwebs until, with a final brilliant flash, it shattered.
[ARGH!!!] Leonidas took the full force of the backlash, raising his own shield. Blood sprayed from his wounds, and a gray petrification began to crawl up his legs, sealing him in stone.
With his last ounce of strength, he hurled his spear. It flew like a meteor, piercing straight through the abdomen of one of Gorgon's central snake heads.
[GYAAAAAAAAH!!!] Gorgon screamed in pain and rage, vile purple blood gushing from the wound like a grotesque fountain, sizzling as it spread across the earth.
[The goddess who became a destroyer, a monster—Gorgon!]
Gorgon looked down at the man who had seen through her and wounded her, her expression one of pure, unadulterated fury. [Then die as a brave man, then!!!]
Leonidas, now petrified up to his chest, merely chuckled softly and closed his eyes, his voice calm and accepting. [My soul is as immortal as this earth...]
[I'll leave the rest to you...] As he said his form turned completely to stone, a magnificent statue holding the line.
Fujimaru Ritsuka watched, his fists clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms.
Gorgon mocked the petrified king.
[The world of humans is about to end. To die here as the 'strongest guardian' is a vain, meaningless death!]
And in the next moment...
A figure stirred amidst the rubble. Ushiwakamaru, her body broken and battered, pushed herself up from the ground. With immense effort, she picked up her petrified sword.
[A... vain death?] she rasped, her voice weak but clear.
[I see...]
[It seems you don't understand the battlefield at all, Gorgon!]
She bent her body, looking up at the colossal goddess, her eyes filled not with fear, but with mocking defiance.
[On the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto... the great monk Benkei stood his ground...]
[We are Heroic Spirits...]
[We are shadows that exist within human history... Our very existence is the continuation of human history itself!]
[Thousands of years from now, there will still be children who admire me, Ushiwakamaru...]
[That alone is reason enough for me to keep fighting!]
She swung her Noble Phantasm. Sparks flew as the petrified earth before her was cut apart like paper. Her long hair whipped in the turbulent air, her eyes blazing with ultimate determination. She placed a hand on the ground and shouted:
[The Pilgrimage of the Five-Ringed Sword - Fourth Stage:]
[Dan-no-ura · Eight-Boat Leap!]
Seven identical clones of Ushiwakamaru instantly materialized around her. Together, they became streams of light, a blindingly fast barrage of attacks aimed directly at Gorgon.
The snake heads struck back like torrents of water, but Ushiwakamaru was faster now, stronger, her blade sharper. Several snake heads were severed, their remains dissolving into black mud.
Enraged, Gorgon began attacking indiscriminately. One by one, the seven clones were caught, crushed, and devoured by the monstrous heads.
But the real Ushiwakamaru was already above, her entire body engulfed in raging spiritual flames—a final, suicidal gambit. She looked down upon death itself and fell from the sky.
[HAAAAAAAAAH!!!]
The flames concentrated around her Noble Phantasm, becoming a single, falling star of annihilation that slammed into Gorgon's main body!
The explosion was cataclysmic. It swept across the earth, carving a gigantic crater into the landscape. The shockwave could be felt kilometers away.
As the smoke and dust began to clear, Ushiwakamaru's form, now like a fading sketch in black and white lines, looked toward where Fujimaru stood. Her eyes held a world of determination and a faint trace of reluctance.
[Goodbye for now... Mr. Fujimaru...]
[BOOOOOOM!!!]
The Noble Phantasm detonated at point-blank range.
Then, silence.
The smoke cleared.
And there stood Gorgon, utterly unscathed. Her eyes held only cold indifference and a mocking contempt for the mortals who dared to sacrifice everything against a god.
A heavy, suffocating despair descended upon everyone who witnessed it. The haze of defeat was absolute.