"Hehehehehehehe...!"
"▄▄■?■!"
Emitting their signature, horrifying giggles and eerie, static-like screeches, the newly evolved Lahmu launched themselves into the sky, initiating a vicious assault against the Servants hovering in mid-air.
Due to the devastating impact of the two ultimate Noble Phantasms, their overall numbers in this immediate sector were relatively sparse. Furthermore, a significant portion of the swarm had instinctively rushed toward Takumi, essentially volunteering for immediate extermination. Because of this, the pressure on the four Servants wasn't completely insurmountable.
At the very least, Ishtar, firing her magical blasts at absolute maximum capacity, was more than capable of holding her own. After all, with Takumi as her Master, she essentially had an infinite mana pool to draw from!
"These freaks are ridiculously hard...!"
Finding a narrow opening, Ushiwakamaru swung her katana with all her might. Because of the Lahmu's absurdly reinforced exoskeleton, her blade caught and snagged mid-swing. She had to forcefully wrench the blade through to finally hack the mutated Lahmu out of the sky. Consequently, her expression was incredibly grim.
Her leg strength, agility, and overall combat skills were undeniably top-tier. However, unfortunately, compared to the absolute monsters currently present on the battlefield, she was fundamentally just a highly skilled, normal human Heroic Spirit. Trapped in an aerial dogfight where she couldn't fully utilize her footwork or terrain advantages against enemies with this level of defense, she was undeniably struggling the most.
"Haaaagh!"
Summoning her signature, massive Macuahuitl—which functioned essentially like a horrifying, obsidian-toothed chainsaw—Quetzalcoatl wore an expression of pure, savage ferocity. With a full-power, sweeping strike, she literally sawed an incoming mini-amalgamation variant completely in half before landing smoothly back onto the back of her summoned Wyvern.
Although over ninety percent of her actual Divinity had been permanently burned away to fuel her previous Noble Phantasm strike, her fundamental Spirit Origin parameters and base stats remained completely intact. Therefore, her baseline combat capability was still incredibly formidable.
"Be extremely careful dealing with those abnormal variants!"
Taking a brief moment to catch her breath, Quetzalcoatl shouted a stern warning to the others.
These specific Lahmu had clearly been artificially upgraded utilizing the raw materials of the three defeated entities. Not only were their base parameters significantly higher than the standard variants, but the myriad of grotesque eyeballs covering their bodies and the two spiked chains sprouting from their backs were absolutely not just for show. They possessed a fraction of the conceptual Authority of both the [Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction] and the [Chains of Heaven].
Given the sheer, conceptual mass of her own remaining Divinity, the diluted petrifaction couldn't instantly paralyze her. However, dealing with the conceptual binding of the Chains of Heaven was going to be incredibly troublesome.
As for the final member of their vanguard team...
"Jaguar Punch!"
"Jaguar Kick!"
"Jaguar Eye-Beam! Pew!"
"Jaguar Roar! Rooooar!"
Watching a certain gag-character perfectly execute martial arts maneuvers while simultaneously shouting out incredibly childish, embarrassing attack names, the corner of Ishtar's eye twitched violently.
This idiot...
Is she actually... a hidden master?!
Ishtar stared in genuine, bewildered disbelief.
While the names Jaguar Man shouted were completely ridiculous, the actual, raw combat power behind her strikes was undeniably terrifying. Her casual punches and kicks possessed enough sheer kinetic force to effortlessly shatter the Lahmu's reinforced exoskeletons. Furthermore, she could seamlessly fire condensed, highly lethal magical beams from the eyes and mouth of her mascot costume. Tearing through the swarm of Lahmu, she looked exactly like a hyper-efficient, completely unhinged killing machine. Anyone who even brushed against her was instantly crippled or killed. Even the upgraded amalgamation variants couldn't withstand a single exchange against her.
If one were to objectively rank the current kill-efficiency of the four Servants present, Jaguar Man would undeniably claim the number one spot, followed closely by Ishtar, with the other two bringing up the rear.
"No, no, no! Who cares if she's a hidden master?! Right now, 'Mother' is obviously the most pressing issue!"
Ishtar shook her head, violently discarding the thought, and turned her attention back to Tiamat. Having been physically battered back into the [Sea of Life] by Takumi, she was currently completely encased in black mud, actively undergoing yet another [Self-Modification].
She's already initiating another radical evolution... How the heck is Takumi going to deal with this?
The answer was simple: Hack her to pieces!
Without a second thought, Takumi launched a completely unrelenting, full-power assault!
However, unlike his previous, measured probing strikes, this time, every single swing was executed with absolute, maximum lethal intent!
His deep-blue, fiery eyes flared brilliantly.
In an instant, thousands of blinding sword arcs shrieked through the air from every conceivable angle, cascading downward like a torrential, silver waterfall. Every single strike radiated a piercing, bone-chilling lethality that invoked primal terror. They took on myriad forms: some were swift and violent like crashing thunder, some trailed long, scorching tails like falling meteors, and others spiraled and danced with erratic, completely unpredictable trajectories, all converging relentlessly upon the mutating Tiamat within the black mud.
The sheer density of the sword aura wove an inescapable net of death, churning the atmosphere into a raging hurricane that scoured the earth. Every single arc contained absolute, devastating destructive power, appearing as if the very fabric of space and time was being violently shredded. Under this suffocating, omnidirectional bombardment, the thick, corrosive black mud clinging to Tiamat's body was effortlessly stripped away and annihilated. The horrifying, indestructible armor she was currently attempting to evolve was systematically pulverized. Even her agonizing shrieks were violently severed in her throat before they could fully form, leaving her to endure the butchery in absolute, agonizing silence.
In mere seconds, Tiamat's colossal, mountain-sized divine form was entirely covered in a dense, crisscrossing network of horrifically deep ravines, exposing the conceptual bone beneath. By the time Takumi finally ceased his assault—panting heavily from the sheer exertion—Tiamat's physical mass had been drastically reduced. She currently resembled little more than a massive, mangled skeleton collapsed amidst a sprawling field of minced, divine flesh.
She had quite literally suffered the conceptual death of a thousand cuts.
Yet, despite witnessing this brutal result, Takumi didn't show a single trace of joy or relief. He immediately turned and sprinted back toward Ishtar and the others at top speed.
"Yes! Awesome! There's absolutely no way 'Mother' can recover from that!"
The exact moment he arrived, Ishtar cheered enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the reality of the situation. Hearing her, Takumi nearly snapped.
You truly are the absolute pinnacle of filial piety!
"We can't beat her. It's time to retreat."
Casually deploying a few dozen sword arcs to eradicate the Lahmu attempting to swarm them, Takumi spoke with absolute, grim urgency.
Ishtar, whose face was flushed with the excitement of an assumed victory, instantly froze.
"Hah?! Aren't we completely dominating right now?! You literally just reduced 'Mother' to a pile of scrap meat! Why on earth would we retreat?!"
Ishtar pointed incredulously at the distant "skeleton" and stared at Takumi like he had lost his mind.
"Look closer."
If she hadn't said anything, it might have been fine. But her absolute confidence just gave Takumi a massive headache.
Hearing his grim tone, Ishtar skeptically turned her gaze back toward Tiamat. This time, she looked much more closely.
"What is... THAT...?!"
See? I told you to look closer. Ishtar's expression of absolute confusion instantly vanished, replaced by profound, unadulterated horror as her pupils violently constricted.
Upon closer inspection, Ishtar realized that Tiamat—far from being "permanently crippled"—was actually drawing upon the boundless, churning power of the [Sea of Life] with even greater ferocity than before. In a matter of seconds, the violently surging black mud completely swallowed her "skeletal" remains once again.
This time, she formed an unimaginably massive, pitch-black "Mud Sphere." The magical energy violently churning within the sphere was exponentially more turbulent and chaotic than a hurricane over the ocean. Blinding, dark-red rays of apocalyptic magical energy constantly leaked from the fissures in the sphere, illuminating the scarred earth like an omnidirectional laser light show.
Beneath the surface of the mud, it looked as if an entirely new, incomprehensible behemoth was stretching its limbs, violently contorting and expanding the sphere into bizarre shapes. Finally, after a dozen agonizing seconds, the Beast fully "hatched" once again. This time, she had evolved into a terrifying, entirely new form, towering over a thousand meters tall—a true, absolute Dragon!
"Tiamat... evolved again..."
Staring at the towering abomination—which now possessed utterly colossal dragon wings, massive draconic claws for hands and feet, a body entirely covered in impenetrable, divine scales, and a pair of utterly massive, bio-magical rocket thrusters mounted on her back—everyone felt their scalps tingle with absolute, paralyzing dread.
Her previous, Second Stage form was already an entity that both Ishtar and Quetzalcoatl had failed to significantly damage despite utilizing their absolute strongest Noble Phantasms. And now, she had evolved into a completely specialized Dragon Form...?!
"AAAAAHHHH! What the heck do we do now?! Takumi! Takumi! You definitely have some super-secret, ultra-powerful, insanely flashy ultimate attack you haven't used yet, right?!"
Ishtar let out a series of sharp, panicked screeches, shaking Takumi by the arm.
"Is there any possibility that the completely un-flashy attack I just used a minute ago was actually the absolute strongest offensive capability I currently possess?"
Takumi shrugged helplessly.
Because his techniques fundamentally lacked massive, flashy visual effects, they were entirely characterized by the "insidious" nature of hiding his absolute maximum output within seemingly basic, ordinary attacks. While they looked like basic attacks, in this entire Singularity, aside from Tiamat, who else could actually survive one?!
Even if they dragged the fully healed Kingu back out here, given his current level and pristine condition, Kingu's Immortality wouldn't last a single second against him. One casual swing and the clay doll would be perfectly bisected on the ground, desperately begging Takumi not to let him die too quickly.
"Right now, my sword is still fully capable of physically damaging Tiamat. But even if I spend another ten minutes hacking her down to a skeleton again, what's the point? What happens if she just instantly evolves into something even worse...?"
Takumi trailed off, casting a deeply meaningful glance at the others.
Tiamat's [Nega-Genesis] wasn't just a conceptual barrier that overwrote Earth's creation myths; it simultaneously granted her an unimaginably high, almost absolute conceptual resistance against Noble Phantasms born from Human History. Unfortunately for her, that specific conceptual defense was entirely useless against Takumi, because absolutely nothing in his arsenal originated from the Nasuverse. Every single ability he possessed was entirely unique to him, an anomaly from beyond the stars.
Therefore, the barrier had absolutely no effect on him.
Tiamat's previous Second Stage defense wasn't high enough to withstand his output, which is why his casual attacks could effortlessly shred her. But now, she had fully transitioned into her Third Stage Dragon Form. While Takumi could undeniably still invest the time and effort to systematically butcher her back into a pile of bones, if she simply evolved into a Fourth Stage...
At the end of the day, unless she was physically dropped into the Underworld, absolutely no one present possessed the conceptual capability to permanently kill her.
—Honestly, if they finally got her into the Underworld and King Hassan successfully bestowed the concept of "Death" upon her, it would be the ultimate, tragic joke if they suddenly realized none of them actually had the firepower left to break her defense.
Hearing this grim reality, the group fully comprehended the sheer, terrifying unavoidability of their current predicament, breaking out in cold sweats.
"Does that mean there is fundamentally no way to stop her from reaching and annihilating Uruk? According to Goddess Ereshkigal, she needs at least two full days to successfully move the Underworld..."
Ushiwakamaru swallowed hard, voicing the horrifying conclusion.
In the Seventh Singularity, Uruk was the absolute, undeniable heart of the Sumerian civilization. Even if every other city across Mesopotamia was completely obliterated, as long as Uruk stood, the foundation of Human Order would not collapse. Therefore, Tiamat, driven purely by her primal instinct for destruction, had a single, absolute objective: march straight to Uruk, annihilate the city, and personally execute Gilgamesh.
Proving this point, she didn't even spare a single, vengeful glance toward Takumi—the anomaly who had just brutally butchered her. She simply flared her massive dragon wings, ignited the colossal thrusters on her back, and immediately prepared to take flight toward Uruk.
"Regardless of the futility, I absolutely cannot engage her in direct, physical combat again. However... I do have two highly experimental, entirely unproven methods I can try..."
Takumi shook his head. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he spoke with a distinct hint of hesitation.
The only problem is, both of these methods are incredibly unreliable...
Our glorious King of Ideas!
The group genuinely hadn't expected Takumi to actually have any backup plans left.
Noticing their intensely curious, hopeful gazes, Takumi didn't waste any time. He aimed his sword at the newly airborne Tiamat and swung.
With a single strike, he tore open a colossal, heaven-spanning Spatial Rift large enough to perfectly encircle Tiamat's thousand-meter-tall Dragon Form. The exit coordinates of this specific Rift were set directly back to her starting point in the Persian Gulf.
If the ability functioned properly, this single strike would instantly teleport her all the way back to square one!
However, reality was never that convenient.
The moment Tiamat's colossal body entered the Spatial Rift, she paused for a fraction of a second. Immediately after, the very fabric of the Spatial Rift began to crack and splinter like fragile glass, until finally—
SHATTER!
The Spatial Rift completely collapsed into nothingness.
[Independent Manifestation]!
Because Tiamat possessed this absolute Authority, any ability that attempted to manipulate, restrict, or forcibly relocate her through spatial or temporal means was fundamentally nullified.
"Excellent. Method one is officially confirmed completely useless."
Refusing to be discouraged, Takumi immediately executed his second, equally unreliable plan.
Using his movement technique, he instantly closed the distance, materializing directly in front of Tiamat. He completely ignored the churning black mud and stood firmly upon the surface of the Chaos Tide.
The [Sea of Life] was only truly effective against entities that lacked absolute resistance, ordinary humans, or standard Servants. Takumi fundamentally couldn't be bothered to care about the corrosive sludge.
Protected by the absolute conceptual shield of [My Heart Remains Thus] and the purifying aura of his Heart of Fire, and possessing the conceptual Authority of [Tiger, Burn Bright]—which could ignore contracts and conceptual bindings even more flawlessly than Medea's Rule Breaker—the Chaos Tide naturally had absolutely zero effect on him.
Truthfully, if he wasn't burdened with the absolute necessity of "Saving Human Order," the current dynamic between Takumi and Tiamat was essentially an unbreakable stalemate; neither of them possessed the capability to permanently deal with the other.
Sheathing the [Sword of the Heart], Takumi gripped his flag firmly in his left hand, resting the pole against his right arm—the [Silver Arm]. He then thrust his right arm directly toward Tiamat—
Load—[My Arm Cleaves All, Reaching the Heavens]!
In an instant, his silver right arm violently expanded. It grew from ten meters, to a hundred meters, to five hundred meters, and finally to a colossal, unimaginable thousand meters! Like a terrifying, mythological silver World Tree violently erupting from the earth, it transformed into an impassable, towering fortress wall, perfectly barricading Tiamat's path. He then violently slammed the colossal hand directly down onto the crown of the "reptilian" Tiamat's head.
The earth began to tremble violently. The colossal bronze-and-silver tree pierced deeply into the black mud, taking root. Operating at a terrifying, naked-eye visible speed, it began to wildly sprout massive, indestructible metallic branches, acting exactly like parasitic vines, aggressively wrapping and coiling entirely around Tiamat's colossal body. His intention was blatantly obvious: he was attempting to physically, forcefully drag Tiamat back down to the earth!
Takumi was genuinely attempting to engage in a contest of pure, unadulterated brute strength against Beast II!
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
But how completely, utterly absurd was the physical strength of Tiamat's Dragon Form? Supplemented by an A++ Rank in [Monstrous Strength], in terms of pure, raw physical output, she undeniably stood at the absolute apex of Tier-0 existences within the entire Nasuverse!
With a single, furious roar, she violently flared her massive claws and wings. Thrashing wildly with terrifying, cataclysmic force, the colossal bronze-and-silver tree attempting to bind her groaned under the unimaginable strain and slowly began to snap and splinter.
Even as Takumi gritted his teeth, channeled every single ounce of his kinetic energy, and actively manipulated the conceptual weight of the [Silver Arm] to its absolute, crushing maximum... he was still agonizingly, inevitably being pushed backward by Tiamat's overwhelming, unreasonable brute strength.
Furthermore, seemingly realizing that Takumi's mobility was severely restricted while maintaining this state, the countless Lahmu spawning from the [Sea of Life] below swarmed the colossal silver arm like an endless plague of ants, initiating a frantic, suicidal assault against the metallic structure.
Tiamat didn't remain idle either. The barrage of Star-Eye beams from her eyes never ceased for a single microsecond. Like an endless, apocalyptic gatling gun, wave after wave of devastating magical energy slammed into the absolute light shield of [My Heart Remains Thus] protecting the Silver Arm—it was as if she was violently venting all the frustration she had accumulated from being ruthlessly butchered by him earlier without landing a single hit!
After holding the line for a few grueling moments, Takumi quickly assessed the situation. Good grief! If I keep this up, I'm going to get completely overwhelmed!
He instantly terminated the mana supply to the Silver Arm, reverting it back to its normal size, and immediately turned and bolted.
"As you can clearly see, method two was also completely ineffective."
Returning to the safety of the group, Takumi clutched his right arm. His face was slightly pale as he delivered his entirely deadpan report.
Ever since he had acquired his ultra-high-speed state, he had literally never been battered this severely!
What else could the group say? Completely synchronized, they all turned toward Takumi and gave him a massive thumbs-up.
To actually attempt to engage in a pure contest of physical brute strength with a literal Beast of Calamity... You sir, are an absolute legend!
Takumi laughed awkwardly.
Although he had known from the start it was highly unrealistic, as a man, the primal urge to test his absolute physical limits against an unstoppable force was simply too tempting to ignore!
Besides, if Tiamat hadn't actively focused all her firepower on attacking him to break his concentration, if he really pushed himself to the absolute brink, he genuinely believed he could have physically stalled her advance for a decent amount of time!