After listening to Merlin recount exactly how things had spiraled out of control, everyone in the grand hall fell into a profound, heavy silence.
Almost perfectly in sync, every single person present turned to look at the smug Incubus standing in the center of the room with incredibly complicated, deeply judgmental stares.
They had to admit: when it came to throwing allies under the bus, Merlin's proficiency was absolutely unrivaled!
However, Gilgamesh actually understood Merlin's reasoning. After all, Merlin was operating completely alone near the Persian Gulf, and a massive portion of his focus was tied up in sustaining the dream cage. If he had hesitated for even a second, he easily could have been intercepted and suppressed by Baal and Gorgon. Had that happened, the situation would have devolved into an even more convoluted nightmare.
"Since the awakening of Tiamat can no longer be undone, we must utilize whatever time we have left to formulate a strategy on how to defeat her!"
"Uruk is the absolute heart of the Sumerian civilization. If Tiamat desires to annihilate human history in this era, Uruk is an unavoidable obstacle on her warpath. Therefore, this final, decisive battle will take place here; it is inevitable."
"However, as the Mother Goddess of Creation and the Second Beast representing the Principle of Regression, Tiamat inherently lacks the fundamental concept of 'Death.' As long as life continues to exist upon the surface of the earth, it acts as absolute proof of her existence. Aware of this absolute Immortality, Takumi and I formulated a countermeasure long before she ever manifested. The strategy is simple: we must drop Tiamat directly into the Underworld, thereby forcefully negating her immortality..."
As he spoke, Gilgamesh cast a meaningful, slightly concerned glance at Takumi, who had been standing completely still, seemingly zoning out for the past few minutes.
"The Underworld?! Wait, wait, wait! What the heck are you talking about?! I literally only split from the group for a few days! Why are you all suddenly talking so casually about dropping 'Mother' into the Underworld?!"
Feeling her brain completely short-circuiting trying to keep up with the conversation, Ishtar frantically threw her hands up in a 'time out' gesture. She desperately looked around at the others, hoping to find someone else wearing an expression of complete bewilderment.
It wasn't until she saw Jaguar Man, Ushiwakamaru, and Leonidas looking equally confused that Ishtar finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thank God. I thought I was the only one completely out of the loop...
Gilgamesh took one look at Ishtar and immediately knew exactly what she was thinking. A look of profound exasperation crossed his face:
"Use that empty head of yours for a second, you useless Goddess! Why else do you think I would propose such a plan?! It is obviously because Ereshkigal is now firmly a member of the Uruk faction! Do you understand now?!"
"Hah?! That gloomy shut-in... Wait. If it's her..."
Ishtar's eyes widened. She was just about to mockingly refute the idea, but her gaze suddenly landed on Takumi, who was still standing to the side in a daze.
If she recalled correctly, Merlin had explicitly stated that Takumi's soul had been dragged into the Underworld. Add to that the fact that both Quetzalcoatl and Jaguar Man had inexplicably shown up here fully devoted to him...
Connecting the dots, Ishtar instantly clamped her mouth shut. A terrifying chill ran down her spine.
Oh my God. In the span of just a few days, my cheap sister and two other Goddesses all fell victim to his absurd seduction! Don't tell me... is 'Mother' going to be charmed by this guy next?!
No, no, no. Surely that's impossible. 'Mother' has literally devolved into a Beast! There's no way she'd be charmed that easily! Right?
I mean, she literally crawled out of the ocean specifically to destroy the world!
Ishtar's mind plunged into an absolute chaotic maelstrom of mental gymnastics.
"To summarize: Ereshkigal is currently doing absolutely everything within her power to assist us. Hey, Takumi! Exactly how much longer does Ereshkigal need to physically shift the Underworld beneath Uruk?!"
Seeing Takumi still staring blankly into space, Gilgamesh furrowed his brow and shouted.
The glass-like flames in Takumi's eyes flickered slightly as he snapped back to reality:
"Let me ask her."
Ask her? How? Right now?
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise.
Because their timeline wasn't nearly as generous as the original game's, Gilgamesh hadn't had the time to successfully acquire the magical communication mirror necessary to contact Ereshkigal. Currently, Takumi was their only reliable liaison.
But exactly how was Takumi planning to contact her right this second...?
[Are you there?]
[Waaah! W-Who said that?! Show yourself! I'll have you know I am the fearsome Goddess of the Underworld! If you think you can just casually scare me, I'll...]
Deep within the Underworld, Ereshkigal jumped nearly a foot in the air. Clutching her massive spear tightly to her chest, she frantically scanned the eerie, empty darkness around her.
[Eresh, it's me.]
Ereshkigal blinked. "Hearing" that incredibly familiar, affectionate nickname, she finally realized exactly who was speaking directly into her mind.
Because Takumi's fundamental Origin was [Connection], combined with the profound properties of the [Heart of Fire], establishing a zero-latency, telepathic "phone call" across spatial dimensions and straight into the Underworld was incredibly easy for him.
[Ahem, Ahem... Just to be clear... you can't actually 'see' me right now, can you?]
Because she had been frantically swinging her "pickaxe" trying to rapidly expand the Underworld ever since they parted, Ereshkigal currently looked like an absolute mess, her blonde hair disheveled and her clothes covered in metaphysical dirt. Realizing this, she hurriedly began trying to dust herself off, asking the question with profound anxiety.
[Don't worry, I can't see you.]
Hearing this, Ereshkigal let out a massive sigh of relief. Her frantic dusting immediately slowed down, transforming into a series of elegant, dignified pats.
[Contacting me so suddenly... did something happen on the surface?]
Ereshkigal asked, her tone shifting to genuine concern.
[Roughly how long will it take for you to shift the Underworld's coordinates directly beneath Uruk?]
[If I go absolutely full-speed without taking a single break... it will probably take... a little over two days...]
Sensing the intense urgency in Takumi's voice, Ereshkigal replied with a hint of apologetic hesitation.
"Roughly how long until Tiamat makes landfall at Uruk?"
Having received an answer that unfortunately aligned with his pessimistic estimates, Takumi looked up at the group—specifically at Merlin—and asked.
Although Merlin's Clairvoyance was strictly a "Live Broadcast" type, it was undeniably the absolute best tool they had for real-time tracking and logistical analysis.
"Emmm... Based on her current trajectory and speed, I estimate Tiamat will reach Uruk's walls in half a day at the absolute earliest, and one full day at the latest."
Carefully observing the terrifying entity through his Clairvoyance, Merlin replied with a deep frown.
In the original plot, Tiamat had taken two full days to slowly march toward Uruk. Clearly, the variant they were dealing with was significantly more aggressive and vastly more powerful.
"Given Ereshkigal's absolute maximum efficiency, moving the Underworld will take somewhere between two to three days..."
Takumi muttered grimly.
"Hiss! With that kind of time difference... aren't we completely screwed?!"
Jaguar Man sucked in a breath of cold air. After running the math in her head, she clutched her face in absolute panic.
"Waaah! I can't believe I just joined the main cast only to get wiped out immediately! I don't wanna die, meow~!"
"Silence, you insolent feline! We are gathered here to formulate a strategy! Who exactly is that pathetic display meant for?!"
Seeing Jaguar Man already waving the white flag before the battle had even begun, the veins on Gilgamesh's forehead bulged. Without a second's hesitation, he grabbed the thick clay tablet resting on his armrest and hurled it with lethal precision, absolutely drilling Jaguar Man right between the eyes.
"Ouch!"
Taking the heavy clay tablet directly to the face, Jaguar Man let out a pained yelp. She stiffly tipped backward like a felled tree and immediately began playing dead on the floor.
Having long since realized Jaguar Man had dumped all her stat points purely into 'Comedy Relief,' Takumi hadn't paid her the slightest bit of attention. The moment he relayed the timeframe, he had already reopened the telepathic link with Ereshkigal.
[My destructive capabilities are fairly high. If I come down there to act as your primary excavator, could we get it done in a single day?]
Takumi proposed.
[While I'm incredibly happy you want to help me... please don't assume relocating the Underworld is that simple...]
[Shifting the Underworld fundamentally involves relocating the foundational Authorities and conceptual Laws of the realm itself. It isn't just a matter of digging a massive hole and moving in. Even if you instantly carved out a perfectly sized cavern beneath Uruk right this second, the time required for me to properly anchor the Underworld's concepts wouldn't decrease significantly. At the absolute best, having you help would only shorten the total time to exactly two days.]
—If it really was that simple, considering how thoroughly Takumi had chopped up the earth earlier, all of Mesopotamia would currently be sitting inside the Underworld!
Ereshkigal explained with a profound sense of helplessness.
If she could slack off by dumping the manual labor onto Takumi, she absolutely would! But as the Goddess of the Underworld, her divine Authority was tied to an inescapable destiny of endless toil. The core conceptual labor simply couldn't be delegated.
[I understand. Don't push yourself too hard, Eresh. Just do the best you can at a pace you can handle.]
Takumi didn't feel particularly disappointed by the answer. In fact, he immediately turned around and offered Ereshkigal some gentle comfort.
The two then ended the connection.
Feeling a warm, sweet sensation blossoming in her chest, Ereshkigal hyped herself up. She gripped her "pickaxe," fully prepared to resume her relentless labor. But suddenly, she noticed something bizarre.
"Is it just my imagination? Or does the soul-fire over in that specific sector seem... significantly more active than usual?"
Ereshkigal stared intensely at a distant corner of the Underworld, tilting her head in genuine confusion.
***
"Regardless of the specifics, fully relocating the Underworld will take over two days. Therefore, our objective is absolute: we must actively engage Tiamat and drastically delay her advance! We need to stall her for at least one full day!"
Gilgamesh slammed his fist onto his armrest, laying out the absolute bottom line of their strategy.
"I don't know why, but whenever someone announces a hyper-specific, utterly crucial stalling plan like this, it always feels destined to fail spectacularly, meow..."
The "resurrected" Jaguar Man spoke up from the floor, her voice incredibly eerie and ominous.
Hearing Jaguar Man's comment, the fiery determination that had just ignited within the group instantly flickered and died.
Wait... she actually has a really solid point.
Everyone thought about it for a second and found themselves silently nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, just thinking about it makes it obvious this isn't going to be simple. Why don't we just fortify Uruk and fight her here? If we do that... we still have enough time to eat a proper final meal and maybe play a fun game or two."
Having achieved absolute, cynical enlightenment, Ishtar offered her completely serious counter-proposal.
"Ahem, ahem. Let's just head out and try our best first, alright?"
Glancing at Gilgamesh—whose face had gone completely dark with rage—and Siduri—who was maintaining a painfully stiff, polite smile—Takumi hurriedly coughed twice to defuse the rapidly deteriorating atmosphere.
"I can open a Spatial Gate directly to the city of Ur. It should be the closest location to Tiamat's current position, and it provides us with a massive buffer zone to fight in."
"However, because the black Chaos Tide Tiamat constantly generates possesses the absolute property to randomly alter and forcefully rewrite the cellular structure of anything it touches... Simply put, if you touch the black mud, whether you are human or Servant, unless you possess a specific conceptual countermeasure, you will instantly be corrupted and turned into an enemy."
"Therefore, this entire operation must be strictly limited to aerial combat."
Reaching this point, Takumi turned his gaze toward Quetzalcoatl, who had been staring at him with bright, intensely expectant eyes this entire time.
"No problem at all~! Just leave it to Big Sister! Before I left for Uruk, I already ordered my flock of Quetzalcoatlus to evacuate in this direction. Considering how much time has passed, they should be arriving any minute now!"
Instantly grasping Takumi's unspoken request, Quetzalcoatl cheered happily.
"So, who is volunteering to join the vanguard?"
Takumi then looked at the rest of the group.
Gilgamesh and Siduri were obviously excluded. If the King died, the entire Singularity collapsed instantly. As for Siduri, she was fundamentally just a normal human who knew a few decent spells; taking her into an apocalyptic deathmatch was out of the question.
But for the rest of the Servants, there were no such restrictions.
"Here! Right here! I will absolutely not be joining you! After all, I am terribly unsuited for both riding beasts and aerial combat!"
Merlin was the very first to raise his hand, enthusiastically volunteering to stay behind with a completely shameless grin.
"Seeing how fast your hand shot up, I almost thought you were actually going to be useful for once..."
Ishtar rolled her eyes in profound disgust.
She was undeniably going. After all, when it came to pure aerial mobility and speed, Takumi was the only person present who could reliably outmaneuver her. The sky was fundamentally her absolute domain.
Furthermore, she had been manifesting in this era for ages without engaging in a single proper, high-stakes battle. As the Goddess of War, she was genuinely itching for a real fight.
As for Quetzalcoatl and Jaguar Man, it went without saying. Cheering loudly immediately after Merlin finished speaking, the two of them were overwhelmingly eager to join the fray.
"I won't be going either..."
Ana spoke up softly.
Among the combat-oriented Servants present, unless she actively unsealed her Mystic Eyes, her base combat power was undeniably the lowest. The amount of times she had been casually swatted aside in the original Babylonia anime was a testament to that.
"Haha! I shall remain in Uruk as well! After all, my true strength lies in defensive warfare! If any stray Lahmu manage to bypass you and assault the city, I will be here to ensure the line holds!"
Having already made up his mind, Leonidas laughed heartily.
Seeing this, everyone's gaze naturally shifted toward the final Servant, Ushiwakamaru, who was currently wearing a look of profound internal conflict.
"Umm... while I truly desire to ride out and fight alongside you all... I fear I might simply become a burden..."
Ushiwakamaru pointed a finger at herself, nervously glancing at the absolutely stacked roster of the vanguard team.
Three literal Goddesses! And the only "human" on the team was Takumi, who was undeniably stronger than all three of them combined! The sheer pressure of fighting alongside a lineup like that was absolutely suffocating!
"It's fine. There's strength in numbers! I guarantee there will be an opportunity for you to shine."
Takumi smiled warmly, offering words of encouragement.
"If Lord Takumi believes in me that much, then I shall join the vanguard as well!"
Hearing his reassurance, Ushiwakamaru instantly perked up, her cheeks flushing with eager excitement.
And so, the vanguard strike team tasked with stalling Tiamat was officially finalized:
Takumi, Ishtar, Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Man, and Ushiwakamaru. A total of five combatants.
After a brief wait, the flock of massive, winged Quetzalcoatlus arrived at the Ziggurat, exactly as Quetzalcoatl had predicted.
Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Man, and Ushiwakamaru each selected a mount and took to the skies. Seeing that everyone was fully prepared, Takumi swung the [Sword of the Heart], effortlessly carving open a massive Spatial Gate directly to the skies above the ruined city of Ur.
The vanguard team systematically flew through the portal. As the anchor sustaining the gate, Takumi would be the last to cross.
"Takumi. Give the King an honest answer. Exactly how confident are you in successfully stalling Tiamat for an entire day?"
Gilgamesh suddenly called out, stopping Takumi in his tracks with a deeply serious tone.
Hearing Gilgamesh's question, Takumi turned his head. He offered a very blunt, incredibly helpless shrug:
"I don't have a clue."
He genuinely wasn't lying. His only interaction with Tiamat had been a single, highly mitigated sword slash from miles away. Currently, he couldn't even guarantee that the meta-knowledge he possessed regarding Tiamat's abilities was accurate anymore—after all, the plot had derailed so drastically that Tiamat had fully bypassed her first phase and spawned directly in her absolute "Second Stage." Who knew what other horrifying buffs she had acquired?
However, Takumi wasn't going to just leave Gilgamesh completely in the dark. He offered his most objective tactical assessment:
"Speaking completely frankly, based on my current calculations... the probability of success is less than fifty percent."
"At the end of the day, my absolute specialties are overwhelming attack power, raw physical defense, and blinding speed. When it comes to large-scale crowd control, spatial restriction, or actively stalling an overwhelmingly massive target, I am practically useless. If Ishtar's Bull of Heaven hadn't been 'lost,' and I could act as Gugalanna's primary support... I guarantee our success rate would be over ninety percent. But... you know exactly how that turned out."
Takumi shrugged helplessly.
In high-tier combat, tactical synergy was absolutely everything. While Takumi possessed enough raw attack power to casually bisect oceans, asking a hyper-agile, human-sized combatant to physically block the path of a completely immortal, mountain-sized calamity was fundamentally asking a fish to climb a tree.
In stark contrast, Gugalanna possessed the sheer, apocalyptic physical mass and overwhelming brute strength necessary to actually physically wrestle Tiamat, combined with massive, devastating AoE attacks. With Takumi actively playing support and running interference, stalling Tiamat wouldn't just be a desperate struggle; it would be highly achievable.
If Takumi hadn't mentioned Gugalanna, things would have been fine. But the exact second that name left his mouth, Gilgamesh's face instantly turned the color of a charred pot.
Who in their right mind would willingly surrender thirty percent of the world's absolute treasury to hire a completely useless Goddess?! The only reason I agreed to such an extortionate demand was specifically because I wanted the apocalyptic firepower of my former arch-nemesis, Gugalanna! Yet... this utterly incompetent, irredeemable fool of a Goddess—!!
Gilgamesh was genuinely furious.
"However, you don't need to worry too much. Just leave the rest to me."
Seeing the absolutely livid, despairing expression on Gilgamesh's face, Takumi couldn't help but chuckle softly. Although his verbal assessment of the upcoming battle was entirely pessimistic, the glass-like flames burning within his eyes remained brilliantly, undeniably radiant. There wasn't a single trace of despair within them.
Having said his piece, Takumi turned and stepped through the Spatial Gate, the portal sealing shut behind him.
"...Judging by his demeanor, could he possess a hidden trump card? Have I overlooked a crucial variable?"
Returning to his throne, Gilgamesh recalled Takumi's final, unwavering expression and muttered to himself in profound confusion.