Answering the onlookers' doubts, Chaldea in the video spoke up.
"She's concentrating mana in her great horn and its rear structure, ignoring her own weight to stand—could it be?!"
Da Vinci's face showed dawning comprehension.
The next moment, Tiamat flew—yes, flew.
Not merely standing, the titanic goddess now soared effortlessly.
She's flying?!!
Impossible!!! Why can she fly?!
Viewers reeled; standing was one thing, but flight was outright cheating.
"No! This can't happen!"
Most shaken of all was Ishtar; seeing Tiamat airborne felt like her world-view shattered. "Mother is an earth goddess—she would never approach the heavens!"
Mash seized the crucial point: "If she can fly, she'll never fall into the Underworld—our plan collapses! Senpai!!"
Fujimaru clenched his teeth, pupils trembling; he had no idea what to do.
Have Mash use her Noble Phantasm to wallop her down with a rampart? Impossible.
"Weapons of the Mesopotamian world cannot harm her in the least—I told you so,"
came a voice from the ground: Quetzalcoalt, now embedding the Piedra del Sol inside herself.
Much of the surrounding lava vanished instantly.
"Yet this body is a divinity of a far-off mystic realm!"
Crack—!!
A sound like shattering glass rang out as Quetzalcoatl's aura turned terrifying. Her sun-bright eyes opened. "Mesopotamian gods are nothing!"
Crack—!!
Another glass-like shatter.
Quetzalcoatl stepped forward, gazing at the sky-borne Tiamat. "Behold the Underworld of the South! Witness the cataclysmic force that once wiped out countless lives!!!"
BOOM—!!!
Quetzalcoatl sprang into the air, leaping to an unimaginable height.
That was… Earth?!
Exactly! For an instant, everyone watching the video clearly saw Quetzalcoatl jump beyond the planet, then plummet back down.
"This life shall become a burning rock, a comet that smites the earth!"
Tiamat lifted her head; her violet-red eyes locked upward as three purple barriers snapped into place to shield her.
"Ultimate·Impact·Flying Kick—!!!!!!!!"
In that moment Quetzalcoatl turned into a life-extinguishing meteor and crashed straight onto Tiamat's head.
BOOM—!!! CRASH—!!!
An explosion thundered, a violent shock-wave spreading outward from the point of impact.
BWAAAAM—!!!!
BANG—!!
Under Quetzalcoatl's heel, two of the three purple barriers shattered instantly.
So terrifying was the force that even Goddess Tiamat buckled, her feet driven back to the ground.
Crack!
A tooth-aching sound rang out as the goddess's horn quivered.
"Aaaaaaaaaa!"
Unlike the emotionless "aaaaa" before, this cry from Tiamat carried a hint of feeling.
The last barrier reinforced itself, violet light expanding in every direction—clearly resolved to keep Quetzalcoatl out.
At this instant every viewer held their breath: which deity would prevail?
Goddess Tiamat, or the meteor-made Quetzalcoatl?
Yet some sensed Quetzalcoatl was running out of steam.
That strike had surely been her strongest.
Indeed… 'It's not enough!' Quetzalcoatl's inner voice rang out, staring at Tiamat below: "Still not enough to break this defense!!"
The 'meteor' flames were fading; the attack had reached its limit.
Just then, astride a pterosaur, Fujimaru Ritsuka gripped the hand bearing the command spell and shouted, "command spell! Grant Quetzalcoatl victory!!!!"
VWOOOM!!
Quetzalcoatl, still the 'meteor,' felt her mana skyrocket! Blazing fire roared anew!
In that instant, the smile returned to her face. Raising one leg high above Tiamat, she cried, "Burn, fighting spirit!! Let these flames incinerate even gods—Xiuhcoatl—!!!"
BOOOOM—!!!!
CRAAASH—!!!!
A crimson shock-wave erupted; this time the sturdy purple barrier cracked.
"Graaaaahhh—!!!" Quetzalcoatl roared.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
Tiamat answered with her own howl, the barrier swelling outward.
Grimacing, Quetzalcoatl clenched her teeth and stretched both hands, pain etched across her face.
"Don't lose!!!" Fujimaru screamed with everything she had: "Quetzalcoatl!!!!!"
That shout seemed to lend Quetzalcoatl new strength.
With another roar she finally shattered the barrier and kicked straight at Goddess Tiamat.
The camera cut to Tiamat; in her eyes Quetzalcoatl's reflection blazed.
RUMBLE—!!!
Another familiar explosion followed.
Though not as titanic as the last, its scale was still terrifying.
A miniature sun engulfed Tiamat.
Mash raised her shield, blocking the shock-wave.
Ishtar stared at Tiamat—still standing—and her face twisted in disbelief.
"After an attack that fierce… she isn't even scratched."
Mash's expression crumpled in despair; she couldn't imagine how to defeat such a foe.